Threads of the Past
by gingervivi
Summary: Link struggles to balance his needs with his feeling of obligation to Zelda who saved his life. While he remembers who she is, he feels little connection with the few memories of his past that he does have. He wants to remember but finds out that remembering comes with a price. For Zelda, she has to figure out how to rebuild her land and her life from scratch. Zelink.
1. At Last (Link)

Zelda, after sealing away Calamity Ganon, asked Link a direct question that he could not answer. She stood before him the same as he, the very same even after one hundred years. She looked the same as from his memories. The same dress, the same hair, the same way she looked at him when –

A pain shot through Link's chest, nothing more than the hauntings of a memory he could barely hold on to. From the way she looked at him, still waiting for an answer and her eyes growing sadder with every unanswered moment, she hadn't noticed. He lifted his hands to sign a response but dropped them. With his head slightly bowed, he shook his head. He couldn't see her face, his eyes locked on the ground between them, but he could hear her sigh and could practically picture her sunken shoulders.

A long time passed as they stood in silence. He wasn't sure why she kept her silence, but he had no idea what to say, what to tell her. Yes, he knew about her, but he had so few memories to go on. His ears picked up the sounds of her walking through the grass to him and opening her arms with a look that said, May I?

He nodded, a little confused but finding no reason to object. She reached around him and held him, the touch familiar even if the person was not. He wanted to lean into it or to even wrap his own arms around her, but he felt his knees buckle as he dropped to the ground. He wasn't sure if he dragged her down with him or if she dropped to her knees of her own volition to keep her hold of him; either way, he was thankful.

"You've done so much, Link," she said. One of her arms moved up, smoothing down his hair. He could feel her arms tremble, her hands shake. "You've run around this entire country on little more than faith, and I can never repay that debt." Her voice began to waver near the end. This wasn't the reunion she was hoping for, he realized, even though there was nothing in his control over it.

He wanted to remember.

Zelda pulled away – not completely, just enough to look him in the eyes. He held her gaze for a moment before looking away, not sure if he was embarrassed or guilty.

"Are you…?" From his line of sight, he could see her hair move as she shook her head. "It doesn't matter. You're alive. And I… I can help you with your memories, perhaps." A soft laugh escaped her. "We did just defeat evil incarnate. I don't think much else could be so challenging."

He looked up just to give her a small smile, an act of obligation. His mind wasn't whirring with ideas of how to solve his problem, as he was sure that was what was going through her head based on what little he knew of her, but rather his thoughts were consumed by her. While he slept, while Hyrule crumbled under a restrained Calamity Ganon, was she conscious of the passage of time? Did she wait all this time to reunite with the version of him he didn't remember? What if he never did? Would it hurt her?

He gathered that, at the very least, they had become friends before Calamity struck. Just as he awoke in a world where he knew no one, she returned to a world where the people she knew were simply… gone.

Finally, he raised his hands and signed, "Are you okay?"

She raised her hands, and his breath stopped. Was she going to sign back? He waited, watching her hands as they went up… and up to her face where she brushed a few tears away from her eyes and cheeks.

She was crying. Despite her smile, he had no idea if they were happy or sad tears.

"Let's…" His hands momentarily stopped as he tried to find the right choice of words. "Let's get you under a roof."

He stood up and offered a hand to help her up. Once she was on her feet and he began to walk towards the nearest stable, but her grip on his hand, though gentle, stopped him.

"If I could ask… could you indulge me? I wish to say goodbye," she asked of him. He wasn't entirely sure what she meant by that, but when she turned around to walk towards the castle, he followed her just a few steps behind.

She stopped at the gate and looked at the castle. He wondered how it looked to her. He only had fleeting memories of the castle to compare it to, though he knew it had seen better days, but this had been her home. He watched as he stood by her side, aware of a feeling at the back of his neck, a whisper right behind his ears.

When he closed his eyes, he didn't see more than he felt their presense, as if they were alive and standing right behind him. Mipha. Revali. Urbosa. Durak. It was a feeling he had grown so used to he had almost forgotten it was there, the presence of his old friends in spirit with him, every step of the way since he freed them.

Opening his eyes, they were gone. He looked to Zelda, wondering if she felt the same thing. She turned and gave him a knowing look that he took as a yes.

They walked back to the fields when it finally hit them: they had to go somewhere. He tapped her shoulder to get her attention and then signed, "There's a stable nearby. They have beds." She shook her head, and he saw the anxiety in her eyes.

"I… I don't know how to put this into words exactly. Do I just do what you've done? Run about the world? Sleep on a bed in a stable? The people haven't recognized you. Would they recognize me?" Something about her words held a deep hurt in them, and he realized she wasn't entirely eager for people to look upon her. At least, not yet.

He nodded and brought his fingers to his mouth to whistle for his horse. Link heard his steed before he saw her, the thumping of her hooves on the ground coming up from behind him and then slowed to trot as she rounded about the two Hylians into a stop. His horse, Meadow, was the first one he tamed after waking up from his sleep and, for some reason, had been the one to appear when he needed her.

"She's beautiful," Zelda breathed, reaching her hand up to brush against Meadow's black coat. "What's her name?"

Link didn't reply, his hands already in use as he dug through his bag to pull out a pair of pants and a shirt for her. They wouldn't fit her well but he didn't own a side saddle for her to ride a horse in a dress with. She took the non-reply gracefully – something told him she was used to it – and took the clothes. Before she could ask, Link turned so his back was to her and didn't turn back until she gave him the go ahead.

She stood before him wearing his clothes, though she kept her Triforce necklace and sandals on. In her hands was the old white dress, complete with old mud stains he remembered too much. He held out his hand to take the dress, silently offering to hold it in his bag for her, and she handed it to him though with some hesitation. Holding the dress… it didn't bring back any memories, not that he expected it to, but seeing the old mud, feeling it in his fingers, he looked up and at her, now able to spot the hints of dirt on her skin.

But that wasn't important. He stuffed away the dress and laced his fingers together to crouch down so he could give her a boost. She didn't seem offended, but he had an inkling of an idea after he helped her that she could've mounted the horse without him. He just didn't know how to interact with her when he wasn't himself. If he remembered her more, if he remembered himself more, maybe he could act the way he did in some of his later memories. Right now, it didn't feel right; it'd feel like playing a part, giving her hope that wasn't there.

He pulled himself up so he was seated right behind her, reached around her, and grabbed the reins. With a small motion from the reins, he directed Meadow north, to the Great Hyrule Woods. They traveled in silence, partially as Link couldn't talk with his hands busy with the reins but also as the monsters that once thrived off of Calamity Ganon's presence were still stalking in the usual areas. He doubted the Blood Moon would revive them anymore, but they would have to be taken down one way or another.

Finally, he led her through the forest on foot. He knew she had come here once before when he – that pain in his chest again – with the Master Sword, but it didn't feel right not being by her side through the white fog and eerie trees. Thankfully, the Korok forest was much livelier, making the awkward silence between the Hero and the Princess less tense. The spirits danced in celebration – obviously much happier than the heroes that actually sealed away Calamity Ganon – and seemed to grow more exuberant as they spotted their visitors, crowding around their feet.

The mid evening light shown through the canopy, painting shadows of leaves and trees on Link and Zelda as they approached the Deku Tree.

"It seems congratulations are in order," the tree said. "I assume your visit is to return the Master Sword?"

Link felt Zelda tense next to him and, honestly, he tried not to show the same reaction. He hadn't exactly thought about that, though it did make sense. Calamity Ganon was gone, sealed away for the next several thousand years. What use was wielding the sword that can seal the darkness without the darkness? He reached for the hilt of the sword strapped to his back and began to pull it from its scabbard when he felt the Princess's touch on his hand, again gentle but meant only to stop him.

"Does it have to be now?" Zelda asked the tree. "Perhaps aspects of Ganon are still out there. We did see the monsters he rose time and time again with each Blood Moon still roaming the landscape."

The Deku Tree's expression didn't shift. "It is not my place to say when the Master Sword should be returned. That is up to the Master Sword and the Hero."

Link's hand still rested on the hilt, unmoving. He recalled his past self had been able to hear the Master Sword and, to some degree, so had he, but since Ganon was sealed away… Nothing. Yet he was still reluctant to part with it. As an answer on its own, he let go of the sword.

"We will wait until the Master Sword returns for us to watch over," the Deku Tree said before turning silent.

Link gestured with his hands towards the inner workings of the Deku Tree, where a few Koroks resided. The Korok that tended to the beds in the forest happily gave them the room, thanking them again and again as it shuffled itself and the others outside.

"I didn't realized the Koroks would tend to such a… non-Korok function," Zelda remarked, looking between the beds and the small store, and lastly to the statue of Hylia. Though he knew in his head that Zelda unlocked her sealing power and that there was no reason for her to look upon Hylia's statue with anxiety or anger, her slight smile and nod of prayer surprised him.

Link settled down next to the fire and pot, pulling from his bag ingredients to craft together a meal. Milk, butter, wheat, meat, and some carrots.

"Some things don't change, I suppose," Zelda said. Link nearly jumped in his place; he hadn't heard her sit down next to him. He watched her as she leaned over the pot, her hand over her shoulder to keep her hair from falling forward. "It smells just as good as before."

Before. Yes, it would make sense, he supposed, that innate skills like cooking or sword fighting would stay with him even if his mind had forgotten he had them.

"Sorry. Does it bother you when I talk about the past?" she asked of him. He avoided her eyes. He was sure they looked the same as Impa's, as Robbie's and Purah's when he revealed he didn't remember them.

He shrugged, unsure of both his feelings and how to answer her. He wanted to remember. But being talked about and not feeling that connection felt odd and wrong. Like they were talking about a version of him that is dead, like his current self was incomplete or somehow not himself despite being himself? Even if he was to remember everything suddenly, with perfect connection with his returned memories, he wouldn't be the same Link that went into the Shrine of Resurrection.

"You don't remember me. Not truly," she said, not as a question like before but as a fact. "You used to speak openly with me. I'm not expecting you to feel that comfortable with me, but may I ask your permission to build your trust again until you regain your memories?"

I'm not expecting you to feel that comfortable with me… anymore, was what Link knew she meant, but he was finding it harder and harder to try and hold that against her.

She's been waiting for her Link to return to her for one hundred year, his mind reminded him. She saved your life. Her kingdom is in ruins. You owe it to her, and she needs you.

The thoughts circled around in his head, changing words but the meaning always staying the same. Guilt, he realized. Earlier, when he wasn't sure if it was embarrassment or guilt at not remembering her the way he should. Guilt that he was not who he should be. Who she needed him to be.

He looked at her and smiled.


	2. Treading Water (Zelda)

His smile. How she missed that smile of his. Waiting in the darkness for a century, all she had to fall back on were her memories of her friends, and every time she tried to recall a certain memory, the less clear it became. The way someone laughed, how they talked, what their touch felt like, each time it had less detail, less clarity. Seeing Link's smile, she hoped to never forget it again.

But a melancholic ache settled over her as she reminded herself of the situation. She may remember him, but to him, she was probably nothing more than a voice in his head, a part of a destiny they've already carried out, or a reminder of what he's lost. No matter how much she might want him to remember her, she knew how much he sacrificed to save her, to save everyone.

Her sealing power still failed to activated, not even when they stood at the doorsteps of Hyrule Castle to face the imminent threat they'd trained their entire lives to fight, that they were destined to destroy. Even after they ran, Link tried to save everyone. He had thrown himself into battle to help however he could. She watched him throw himself in front of other, take hit after hit until his shield broke and then some more. He saved lives. He saved Hateno. She just wished she had saved him in time.

He sacrificed his life, and she brought him back at the cost of his memory, a sacrifice he never agreed to.

"Thank you," she said in response to his smile, his confirmation that he'd let her stay with him. She didn't expect a reply and didn't receive one. He served them their dinner and settled back against the wall of the room – inside the Deku Tree - to eat his. They ate in silence, Zelda too afraid to ask or mention anything pertaining to who she remembered him as that she simply didn't talk.

When he began to settle in to bed after cleaning up, she stood and said, "I'm going to take a walk." He didn't answer right away, his hand touching his chin like he was assessing what to do. Then he met her eyes and nodded before breaking contact by laying down. Part of her was disappointed he didn't offer to come with, but she hadn't asked that of him because, really, despite one hundred years she missed in keeping Calamity Ganon sealed away, she needed a moment to herself to think.

Stepping out into the cool night air in the Kurok forest wasn't chilling though it was cold enough that she was thankful to have changed from the white dress to Link's more practical garments. The Kuroks still danced and celebrated but certainly toned down for the night. They sparkled like stars, some bouncing around as balls of light. Some trailed at her feet as she took step by careful step, pacing in a wide circle around the Great Deku Tree.

"Why aren't you asleep?" one of the Kuroks asked. This one kept up with her pace by leaping small bounds. It looked weightless.

Another joined in, its feet quickly scuttling to keep up, and asked, "Why did you come here if Link didn't plan to return the sword?"

And the last asked her, "Aren't you tired after your fight?"

This wasn't the alone time she thought she'd have, but they seemed so concerned, she couldn't bear to turn them away. "I'm exhausted, but it's strange. It's not a physical tiredness."

One of the Koroks, the third one to join, stopped, and Zelda paused in her walk to give it her attention.

"Well that makes sense!" it said after a long contemplation. "You were probably like us!"

"Huh?"

"For one, you didn't age! While you waited, did you feel time?"

Zelda bit at her lip. The last thing she wanted to do so soon after defeating Calamity Ganon was trying to remember her long, long struggle with him. "Well, no."

"Not until your chosen showed up?"

She felt a sinking in her stomach. Figuring out why things happened never outweighed surviving them as they happened. She just assumed when she sealed Calamity Ganon and herself away, power kept them relatively timeless, but now that she thought about it, her consciousness did stray at times and Calamity Canon was able to influence the world around them. Clearly, it was not at the same strength he'd have if he wasn't sealed away, but he hadn't been completely sealed away. Link and the Master Sword was needed for that.

"I suppose so…" she trailed off, still lost in her thoughts. "You're not trying to say I'm a spirit like you?"

The first Korok jumped, shaking its arms. "No! A temporary state! A blessing?"

She gave a small nod. That would probably be her best explanation for it for the time being, though she would certainly have to investigate into it further. Had there been past incarnations of herself that had entered into a state she had? She knew of one of the more famous legends in which the Master Sword kept the Hero in some kind of stasis, waiting for him to be the right age, but her situation was seemingly the opposite.

"Thank you for your help," she said to the Koroks and began her walk again. They followed her again, the only sound coming from them being soft melodies and the faint sounds of their travel next to hers. Her mind wasn't clearer in any sense of being free from roaming thoughts, but they did bounce in her head with direction.

The moon peeking through the canopy was her only signifier of how much time she had spent circling the Deku Tree with her newfound travel companions. She came to a stop at the Tri-Force symbol, standing where she had stood before a hundred years ago, and looked up at the Deku Tree.

Would Link be asleep by now? she asked herself, wondering if it would wake him if place in which he sleep began to speak. And then she wondered if she'd wish he'd stay asleep for a private conversation with the Tree.

"You wear your worry clear on your face," the Tree said in hushed toned. "Worry not, he is restful and well."

That, without a doubt, made her blush. Zelda knew she wasn't like Link who could hide his surprise, his anger, his joy behind a placid expression, but being told it was that easy to read her was a little unsettling, like she had no private thoughts. Another task for herself to keep her busy, she supposed.

"Thank you," she whispered, feeling some comfort in knowing how Link was even when she could not get the answer from the source. It almost felt like a failure on her part, and she was all too familiar with that feeling. "Great Deku Tree, I wish to ask you something."

"Speak, child."

"I'm not sure this is my place or- or even if I should be the one asking this. I'm sure he has already spent countless hours and days trying to remember, but is there anything… anything I can do to help?" she pleaded. If her emotions still shown clear on her face, she hoped the Tree saw her desperation.

The Great Deku Tree stood silent, it's features unmoving. Each moment that passed grew the worrying thought in her mind that there wasn't a damn thing she could do for the person she owed the most to. After what felt like ages, it spoke.

"Is this desire for him?" it asked. Before she could respond, it added, "Or for you?"

She swallowed her half-formed answer and threw her gaze to the ground. For him, she wanted to say. They were his memories, after all. But she knew a more truthful answer would be both, and that the selfish core of her answer was, yes, that it was for her.

"His memories of his time before are few," it continued without her answer. "And none are of himself."

Zelda nodded half-heartedly. "Thank you again. Your words are… noted."

She returned to the refuge beneath the Tree. It was still void of Koroks, but the extra bed was made up for her, one corner of the blankets pulled back slightly into a neat triangle. Link, she saw, was as the Tree said. His breathing was long and even, though he slept on his side with his back towards her so she was not able to see his face to confirm if it was indeed restful and well. But she figured the Deku Tree had little to gain from lying, so she laid down in her bed and drifted to sleep.

No dreams came to her, and she woke the next morning alone, aside from a sole Korok that stood next to the cooking station. From where she sat in bed, she could see the bowl was empty, but the hands of the Korok were not. It held a plate of eggs and sautéed vegetables, waiting patiently for her to come and take it.

Groggily, she slipped out of bed and sat next to the fire to eat, taking small and deliberate bites. This was Link's cooking – that, she knew for sure. The Korok, bless it, sat next to her and hummed as she ate her first meal of the day. When she was done, it took her plate for her, leaving out the only exit. She followed it for a few steps until she heard Link's voice, distant and soft but his. And she froze.

He was not speaking to her currently, and to that she had no serious qualms with. She knew him, even if he did not know himself or remember the reason he rarely spoke aloud. And it was why she knew she had to step back and close off her ears. Despite her avid curiosity, she couldn't bear to betray a trust she was just starting to form with him all over again. She busied herself by pacing, tugging her fingers through her hair to comb it out, adjusting the ill-fitting clothes once more, and anything else she could think of to stay busy and, for one of the few times in her life, purposefully unfocused.

By luck, she happened to be watching the entrance when Link returned. When he saw her watching, he stopped mid stride, each foot on a different step. His face was, as usual, expressionless but comforting nonetheless. He wore none of his armor and carried none of his weapons, save for the Master Sword strapped to his back. He looked so much like the Link from her memories, and she wasn't sure if it helped or hurt.

Still, she strapped on a smile. "Good morning. Breakfast was delicious, thank you. I trust you slept well?"

He nodded.

"Good! That's good…" Zelda trailed off. Her fingers busied themselves at the hems of the borrowed clothes.

Link took a few more steps towards her, stopping only a few feet away, and began to dig through his pack. It went deep, his arm reaching down into it further than the bag's space should've allowed. Despite her curiosity over the bag, what surprised her more was what he pulled from it: a set of women's clothes. Nothing fancy but certainly something that would fit her better. She looked from the clothes in his outstretched hands and back to him, waiting until she realized she was waiting for an explanation, something he couldn't give her without his hands.

She took the clothes and held them to her chest, her arms wrapped around them.

When he still didn't explain how he got them or, if he already had them, why he hadn't given them to her earlier, she prompted the discussion with, "How in Hyrule did you find women's clothing out here?"

Link raised hand tentatively with his mouth partially open, both his hands and tongue trying to find the words, and seemingly decided against it with a shake of his head. Then he beckoned her to follow.

"Wait, uh, let me change first."

He nodded, and then, with a flash of contemplation on his face, also gave a small bow questioningly, like he wasn't sure of how or which way to respond. He left, giving her time and space to change.

The clothes fit well. Not perfectly, as was to be expected, but much better than the clothes she wore previously. They were simple, the long tunic-like off-white shirt split on the sides with a thin cloth belt to pull the fabric together at her waist, and the soft tan pants fit snuggly at her hips and hugged her legs until just below her knees. There were no replacement shoes, but she figured that would be harder to purchase for someone else than clothes were and so, like she had before, she kept her necklace and sandals.

Zelda met up with Link at the ends of the surface roots of the Great Deku Tree. He looked her over once and nodded, to which she suspected was his was of confirming what she wore fit her this time.

"Are you going to explain to me-" She cut herself off as Link once again motioned for her to follow him. It wasn't a long walk. In fact, it was hardly more than a few steps. He stopped and turned to her, taking the Sheikah Slate from off his belt. She noted the shrine behind him, one of the same kind that she had studied once so long ago with no avail.

She waited, wondering what could be specifically explained here and with the Sheikah Slate. That is, until Link showed her.

With a final tap on the surface of the Slate, she was as he, before her eyes, came undone into strands of light deconstructed before her very eyes.

"Link!" Zelda shouted, her eyes wide and heart pounding. What happened? Oh, Goddess, what happened?

Once more, her questions were answered a moment later as the same strands of light formed just ahead of her at the base of the shrine. She fell to her knees, her mind spinning.

Link had been deconstructed. Then reconstructed. Before her eyes.

With her head too busy with her thoughts, she hadn't noticed until the last moment Link rush over to help her, his hands on her forearms and a real, genuine look of concern on his face.

He signed, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

She shook her head, still dazed and amazed with her thoughts leagues away from the present. Then, in a flash, she looked at him, his concern meeting her determination, and grabbed his arms. "Please! Show me again!"

He smiled and nodded. Right there, before her eyes with the surface of the Sheikah Slate in full view for her to take in, she watched as he pulled up a map, zoomed in and tapped a blue marker. She could feel him, her hands still lightly holding his arms, and a moment later, he was gone. The light felt like nothing. Her bare skin against him didn't feel like he was being deconstructed, not like a building being pulled apart and moved. If anything, the feeling was akin to water slipping between her fingers.

But Link did not reappear at the same shrine. She waited a moment and then two before she heard his familiar footsteps behind her.

"Are there more shrines here?" she asked him as he appeared. Link nodded.

Behind him, Zelda saw the Great Deku Tree in plain view and remembered last night's conversation. With a rested mind and full stomach, she could think on its words properly. Link had no memories there were his own. She had watched Link in her mind's eye as he traveled to places they had visited together and later talk with Impa, so she knew he remembered things with him in it, so… so that meant his only memories were ones with her in them, as each scene he followed in the Sheikah slate was taken in their time together. He only knew of his self from before next to her. She couldn't help him with his childhood or any important memory alone or with people that no longer lived.

But she had an idea.

"So where did you get these clothes?" she asked, jumping up to stand next to him as he moved through the Slate's map. A little presumptively for a person who no longer knew the terrain of Hyrule, she expected him to zoom in on a location where a town or village once stood but, no, it was in the middle of a lake.

He attempted to holster the Slate back to his belt, but at the motion, Zelda held out her hands as if to say that she wished to look at it herself. With his hands free, he signed. "A Geurdo woman lives there and is very passionate about clothing."

"I see," Zelda said, looking over the Slate's map and then, by an accidental twitch of her finger, she switched to the pictures.

Her pictures were still there, but there were several other pages worth of pictures. Some of animals, monsters, and plants, but it also held pictures of himself with people in various locations and scenes of sunsets, of flowered grasslands, and tumbling waves.

"These are beautiful," she breathed, looking up at him to give him a smile. "You must have been all across the country."

He nodded.

"This one," she said, stopping at and selecting a picture that showed him smiling with a couple children and their parents over a hearty meal of seafood paella. "Where is this?"

"L-U-R-E-L-I-N village," he signed, spelling out the name and then showing her the sign he had been using for it in short hand. Then he switched to his map and closed in over the village marker on the southern coast.

"Think we could visit it sometime? I haven't seen the ocean in ages." Zelda said, her hands absently practicing the new sign for the village name, trying to commit it to memory just in case. When she looked up from the map, Link was just… staring at her.

"What?" she asked.

"You sign?"

"Oh, uh, a little," she said, wondering if she should go into detail. "I mean, obviously I can understand it, but I'm not as skilled in speaking it myself. It doesn't come as fast to me as my tongue does."

He nodded slowly, processing the information.

She took in a deep breath and held it for a slight second before letting it out in a long sigh and holding up her hands. With slow, clumsy, unpracticed hands, she signed, "Guards used sign language to communicate fast… orders without people hearing. One of them… taught me enough to understand when I explained I wanted to hear what you have to say."

When she received no response, she added, "Would you… prefer it if I signed? It's no trouble."

"No, speaking is fine. I don't mind, I was just surprised."

"When I decided to stop being so rude to you after you saved my life," Zelda said, out loud this time, "I talked to you a lot in an attempt to get to know you but to no avail. I got very frustrated when you didn't answer me with anything more than nods, shrugs, and head shakes. I complained about it to Mipha who very kindly informed me that you did not speak. Goddess, I was so embarrassed. Thankfully, a lot of signing is very symbolic so when you first used signs I didn't know, it was easy enough to guess."

Link's right hand, flat with the tips of his fingers near his lips, moved forward to say "thank you."


	3. Hesitant (Link)

"Are you sure about this? Your chart says you've already got a horse roaming around," the stable master informed him. This one didn't know general signs in order to explain the situation in its fullest, so Link settled on a firm nod and tapping the desk to say, now.

"No need to get snippy," the stable master said. "I have to check in case you lost 'em or they died. For record keeping."

Link waited at the desk as one of the stable hands brought out one of his other horses. He slipped the stable hand a blue rupee and gave Tipsy an apple. Already saddled up, he pulled himself up and guided her towards the Great Hyrule Forest.

"I hope you don't mind, but you'll have a different rider for the rest of this trip," he said softly, leaning for her to hear. His voice was thin from a lack of use. Thankfully, horses didn't really care what you sounded like, so long as you said it with the right tone. "I think you'll like her. She's… talkative, but she's nice."

He gave Tipsy a soft pat and spurred her on to go a little faster. Zelda was waiting for him with Meadow outside the entrance to the Great Hyrule Forest. He was close enough to see her mouth moving as she fed Meadow a carrot, but certainly not close enough to hear or take a guess at what it might be. As he pulled up next to her, he dismounted and tied the reigns on the same branch as Meadow's.

"Oh, she's beautiful," Zelda said, instantly taken with Tipsy. She brushed Tipsy's dusty brown coat with her head, soft and slowly, stirring a content sound from the horse. "What's her name?"

He signed, "Tipsy."

"It's… very cute, but why in Hyrule did you choose that?" she asked. He couldn't help but notice the small furrow in her brow.

"When I first saw her, she was swaying about the field like a drunk," he answered.

"And this horse?" Zelda asked, her brow now raised at Meadow. Oh dear.

He signed her name and watched as the Princess's lips twitched at the corners, obviously resisting a smirk.

Defeatedly, he signed, "I found her in a meadow."

And whatever restraint she did have broke. She held her stomach as she bent over slightly, her hand still on Tipsy but now as a way to keep her upright rather than to soothe the horse.

Link mounted up on Meadow and instantly spurred her into a trot. From behind him, he heard Zelda yell through her laugh, "Wait!" He didn't, but she managed to catch up with him in a minute. Once she did, he felt a pang of guilt in knowing he should've waited. He knew he used to be her personal guard in the time before, and though she could view his actions in jest, he still couldn't help but feel that he had left her on her own, even temporarily as he knew the area was still monster infested. She didn't scold him, merely giving him a smile as she pulled up her horse next to his.

Passing by Hyrule Castle on their way to what could essentially be summarized as a beach vacation felt odd, though not "wrong." At the moment, there was nothing to do there. It was less a center of government than it was more of a glorified building considering there was no government to rule within it. The only person with a claim to any governing title was beside him, but she had yet to make any mention of her role as Princess or the future of Hyrule.

Seeing as she helped save all of Hyrule, Link had few objections to letting her avoid it by going to Lurelin village.

Once they hit the main roads, Link removed his Hylian hood and passed it to her. With her attention on him, he tapped his collarbone and nodded to her, trying to signal to her that she may want to hide her more identifiable features. Even though she had wondered to him about being identifiable, he had no idea if she actually wanted the people to know she had returned, much less returned to rule. Regardless, she took the hood and his suggestion, tucking away the necklace under her shirt.

The trip involved a few stops for the horses as well as giving Link time to scout ahead and clear the way. Except when Link gave her a warning to be quiet on the dangerous stretches of the trip, the Princess was content to talk without his participation. The experience, it felt like one of the memories he had recovered, and he almost enjoyed the feeling of connection to his memories.

Her one-sided conversations – clearly directed at him as opposed to talking to herself – included topics such as pointing out where small towns and villages used to be and how the landscape itself had changed in the past century. Sometimes she'd delve into topics beyond him, but when she started to talk of the Guardians and her past work with Impa and Purah, she stopped. He gave her a questioning look which she shook off.

The next day's sun was just setting by the time they reached Lurelin village, but approaching it was unlike anything Link had come to expect in his journeys there before. There was music and cheers and laughter. By the time they actually could see the village, they saw the works of a celebration.

"It's Link!" someone yelled. In response, others whooped and hollered, waving some kind of noise maker. Several of the villagers surrounded Zelda and himself as they tried to make their way to the inn, but none of them explained what the celebration was for until they checked in and Clarissa explained.

"You really haven't heard? One of our traders came by with great news! Calamity Ganon has been sealed away!" she exclaimed as she handled the payment for the rooms. "Of course, he was nowhere close enough to see the battle in full detail. He said, by the time he even made it to Castle Town, no one was there!"

Link swallowed a lump in his throat. He had made it a point not to run around telling people he was the Hero that wielded the sword that seals the darkness, so of course they didn't know that before them stood the very people they were celebrating because of. But part of it felt just as wrong as the desire to still keep it under wraps.

He understood then why Zelda wasn't so keen to return to civilization immediately.

Link gave Zelda a dismissive wave, trying to let her know she could go and partake in the celebration if she wished. She bit her lip and seemed to consider her options before taking a seat on the second bed in the room they rented.

"It feels weird," she explained. He nodded in agreement and then set down his pack. "Should I… should we tell them?"

He didn't answer, mainly because he had no answer. He could prove his claim to the title of Hero, and she could probably do the same for her role as Princess. Telling the village would feel exposing while keeping it secret would be denying them the truth. Truth be told, even telling them now might be too late considering how he never told them before. He had come to know these people. He ran errands for them, delivered letters to far off loved ones, and ate meals with them.

"If I may, I suggest we tell them," Zelda began, "but not tonight. The woman told us that they're celebrating the end of Calamity Ganon. That doesn't need to include us."

Again, he gave her no answer. He got ready for bed, pulling out his ponytail and running his hands through his hair before he shrugged off the armor layer of the Hylian tunic and knocked off his boots. When he sat down on the adjacent bed, he saw that Zelda no longer sat on hers.

"I want to meet the people. I'll be back soon," she said with a smile left the room.

He watched her back as she left. A moment later, he heard holler similar to the one the villagers yelled when they arrived. The general merrymaking continued at a relatively normal pace, to which Link took as Zelda keeping her word as well as her appearance not giving away who she really was.

Trying to tune out the happy celebration outside, Link laid down in the rented bed and slept.

 _It's so dark that he can barely see five feet ahead of him. He yells out another call for help, cold and wet and so, so tired. His limbs feel somehow both sore and numb. He's thankful for his shoes, even as wet and uncomfortable as they are, as he walks through an unfamiliar forest of tall trees._

 _He yells another plea for help, his throat scratchy and hoarse and threatening to fail him. He yelled as much as he could as the river swept him downstream when he wasn't trying not to swallow another mouthful of river water in his attempt to stay afloat._

 _He wished he paid more attention to his mom's maps. He wished he was older than seven with longer legs and knowing how to swim and everything older kids had. He wished he was stronger to help his friend on the bridge, to not get pushed off-_

 _ **Snap!**_

 _He freezes and holds his breath. A moment passes and he hears another snap._

 _He isn't alone. And it might not be good._

 _Despite the fear settling over him, he forces himself to take another step and push his back up against a tree. He closes his eyes, his sight doing nothing for him in this darkness._

 _Another step. His heart rate doesn't calm. The rustle of something heavy being dragged. Not a cart. Carts squeak._

 _The steps stop. When they resume, he hears them growing louder. He flexes his fingers, cold and slow and non-compliant. He opens his eyes and sees the gleam of a sword a few trees away._

 _Something – he's not sure what – pushes him to action. His legs push him in the opposite direction, partially slipping over wet leaves in his haste. He catches himself, his hand grabbing onto something on the ground – a stick? He takes it, deciding something is better than nothing._

 _He hears whatever it is follow him, making noises he knew weren't Hylian. It gained on him._

 _A cold sweat chills him even further. Running water ahead. He digs in his heels to stop and turns. It's a bokoblin. He has no chance. He raises his tree branch with both hands, the bark scratching at his skin._

 _He watches it stalk towards him slowly. He waits. He digs in his heels._

 _It launches towards him-_

A hand on his shoulder. He jerked awake and tried to move back only to hit the wall. "Link?" someone asked. It was familiar, but he struggled to remember to whom the voice belonged. His heart still raced, pounding painfully in his chest. A couple blinks later and he saw Flavi, the Geurdo treasure hunting woman, stood before him with concern painted all over her features.

"I hope you forgive my trespassing, but I could hear your struggles from my room. Are you alright, voe?" she asked.

Link sat up and patted himself down, trying to anchor himself. He was here. In Lurelin village. Zelda was out enjoying the festivities. He was on a bed at the inn in one of the private rooms. Whatever the hell he dreamt, it wasn't real.

"Nightmare?" Flavi asked, taking a seat on his floor. It was clear she didn't mean to leave until she thought he was well.

He shrugged, not sure what it was.

"You've slept many times in the common room, but I've never been woken by you before. Did something happen since your last visit?"

Technically, many things had happened since then, but none of them were included in the weird dream he had. He had never felt scared of bokoblins aside from his first fight with one when he first left the Shrine of Resurrection, but that was neither at night nor under the circumstances in which the dream happened.

It… it could've been a memory, but that seemed just as unlikely. His only memories of the past happened when he stumbled across places that the Princess had taken photos of, that triggered specific memories of those locations. He had been to Lurelin village many times. If it was a memory, why? Why now? The Deku Tree had warned him that escorting the Princess might trigger other memories, but there had been no mention of her in the dream.

He gave Flavi a tired smile to let her know he was alright now and, despite, not having really answered her questions, she didn't ask for anything and left. He laid back down and tried to sleep, but found himself waking often through the night on his own. Once, he turned to see that Zelda had not only come back but had also fallen asleep in her bed.

After a few hours of tossing and turning with no relief, he decided to forego the effort despite his fatigue. As quietly as he could as not to disturb the sleeping princess, he pulled on his shoes and grabbed his pack. He changed his clothes in the common room as he had done so many other times before, feeling uncomfortable about changing in the same room as Zelda, even while she slept.

Flavi was still asleep, as was a merchant that must have arrived sometime in the later night. He had changed in common rooms so many times that it felt normal, so he pulled off his dirty layers and put on his sand boots and a loose fitting shirt, preparing for a day in the sand and sun.

The sun was just starting to rise, the sky a soft yellow. A few of the fishermen were already awake and beginning with their work. He spotted Sebasto tying together a net and took a seat next to him on the sand, holding out his hand to offer to help. Sebasto didn't seem surprised at the sight of Link this early in the morning and handed him the half-finished fishing net.

Link had helped before and knew how to work the ropes, and he found the repetition of it calming. His fingers twisted, looped, and pulled at the ropes, his hands too calloused from fighting and climbing and whatnot for it to hurt too much by the time he finished but his fingers did feel sore from the effort.

"So the girl you brought here," Sebasto started at long last. The sun was already hovering right above the horizon. "She your friend?"

Link hated that he had to think on the question. He knew they were friends. She probably still saw him as her friend. He nodded to answer Sebasto, who hummed.

"I know better than to ask you for specifics," Sebasto said with a laugh at the end, "so I'll just say it: she's special, right?"

Link looked at Sebasto, his eyes widening slightly being the only thing betraying his calm disposition.

"Thought so," Sebasto continued. He grabbed a few items to craft together lures. "She talks much, much differently than the people who usually pass through here, and she holds herself differently too. I doubt I'm the only one who noticed. If she's who I think she is, especially considering recent events, people might ask her questions she doesn't have the answers to. I just wanted to let you know. Thanks for the help, boy."

Sebasto momentarily stopped in his crafting. "This is unlikely here in Lurelin village, but it is also likely that people might not be eager for change, whether or not it's within their control."

Link nodded, absently handing him the completed fishing net as his mind busied itself with the new information. He left the beach and returned to the rented room, finding Zelda still soundly asleep. He almost considered waking her up but decided against it. What he wanted to ask her, he wanted her full attention.

So he sat on his bed and waited. And waited. He closed his eyes for a moment, figuring that staring wouldn't make time go faster.

"Link?" he heard her ask and he jerked his head up. She stood before him, dressed with her hair combed and… holding a plate of food. Oh Goddess, he must have dozed off. "Oh good, you're awake. Here."

She handed him a plate of seafood paella, likely of Kiana's generosity, but he quickly set it aside to keep his hands free. He began to sign quickly, asking her about her intentions as a Princess, about the future of Hyrule, of her expectations once she told the village of Lurelin who she was.

But she said, "Wait- wait, Link, please slow down. I can't understand what you're saying."

He stopped and took in a deep breath, trying to approach this from a less panicked state.

"If you want to tell people who you are," Link signed, wishing he had figured out how to approach this subject earlier, "they might ask you if you're planning on re-establishing the previous government."

She looked pensive but said with an air of absoluteness behind it, "Of course."

"What are you going to do if people don't want that?"

Her brows drew down and she looked at the floor. She obviously hadn't considered that. To be fair, he hadn't either. He had been more concerned over if she was ready to go back into the public eye or how she'd fare adjusting to a Hyrule she didn't grow up in, not how the people might not welcome back their Princess with open arms.

He caught as her shoulder sagged and a sigh escaped her lips. She sat down next to him on his bed and leaned forward, holding up her head with her hands on her cheeks and her elbows on her knees.

"Link, of course I plan to reestablish my family's legacy. My… line needs to continue to combat Ganon the next time he comes back, but I spent so much time in my prayers and my studies. I was taught how to rule with council in an existing system. I have no idea how to create a government out of nothing," she confessed. Her hands moved up so the covered her face. "And- Goddess, this sounds so selfish, but I wanted to help you and- and get to know you. That's why I wanted to come here. I wanted to see the people you helped, had relationships with. The people here, oh Link, they're so wonderful. They only had nice things to say about you last night.

"These people, they've survived for so long without Princess Zelda. And- and- and Link, this isn't – Goddess forgive me – this isn't the Hyrule I know. I know the Hyrule that had a bustling Castle Town, that had functioning villages all the way from the castle to here and yet aside from the few stable-inns we passed, there was nothing. There were only ruins. How am I supposed to return one-hundred years later like-"

Zelda stopped when he reached his arm behind her, resting a hand the back of her shoulder and giving it a soft squeeze, trying to comfort her. She turned her head to look up at him, he could see the tears in her eyes and on her cheeks, and he used his other hand to wipe a few of them away.

He had no answers for her. Nothing she had said was incorrect. The people she was supposed to rule were long gone. The castle she was supposed to rule in was destroyed. Before her was a monumental task that he had no idea how to help her in.

But he knew he wanted to help her. It wasn't the same feeling that tugged at him every time she looked at him, not the guilt in wanting to make it up to her that he wasn't who she needed him to be. He felt a personal stake in not just helping her but helping the only Hyrule he currently remembered. And despite only having a few fleeting memories of her, he knew it to be truth that there was no better person to lead Hyrule.

They continued to sit like that for a minute or two until Zelda sniffled and gave him a soft smile, her own hands replacing his in wiping away her tears. Link pulled his hands back into his lap – until he remembered the food sitting on his other side and his stomach growled loudly. He heard Zelda laugh lightly at the sound but otherwise made no comment as he picked up the dish and ate his breakfast.

When he finished, she asked, the smile no longer gracing her lips, "How am I even supposed to reestablish a government after a century long disaster?"

He thought on it despite his complete lack of experience in governing matters. That being said, he did know most of the people as a result of his travels. He signed, "Start small. Talk with local leaders."

Her eyes lingered on his hands for a moment until she nodded. From the look on her face, he knew the cogs of her mind were turning, formulating some kind of plan. And he knew what it was.

She stood up and took his dish, giving him a nod for her to follow him. He followed the unspoken order, following her back to Kiana who was just finishing up breakfast with her sons.

"Link! We missed you last night!" Zuta exclaimed, looking slighted.

Kiana shushed him. "You looked absolutely drained when you came in last night. I made sure the boys didn't wake you."

Link smiled at the kids and signed a thank you. Not that he would've minded the boys and their avid curiosity of his travels and their desire to run around and play, but she was right, the day of travel and fighting had left him tired. If he had traveled via Sheikah Slate, he would've joined in the celebration, but he rarely mentioned his… alternative form of transportation. Too much to explain.

After a small conversation in which they narrowly avoided the question of Zelda's name, Link led Zelda to Rozel, the village elder. But Link didn't enter Rozel's hut, opting to stand just outside to give them an opportunity to speak one-to-one. Zelda didn't look too pleased about it but didn't insist he do otherwise.

From where he stood, he could still clearly hear the conversation they had. Rozel seemed surprised by Zelda's confession of identity but not terribly so, and then Zelda began talks of how Lurelin village fared the last century. It moved from then to ways to improve the area around Lurelin now that monsters weren't endlessly spawning: how the village could grow, how trade could be improved, and how to better establish communication with the other villages.

It took longer than Link thought it originally would, and he began to tune out the talks, unable to keep up with the intricacies of the talks, only coming to when he heard a definitive end of Rozel saying, "I'll hold a town hall with the others to extend your offer, Princess. I'm honored you came to us first. Goddess bless you."

Zelda joined Link outside the hut, positively glowing. He followed her by her side for a few steps until they stood at the waterfront. She gave him a smile and turned to face the sea, the mid-morning sun dazzling the waters.

In hushed tones, words meant only for him, Zelda said, "I fear that my insecurities kept me from resuming my responsibilities immediately. I worry I may not be the leader that Hyrule wants or needs. I…" She paused, looking down at the back of her right hand. It was vivid, the flash of the memory where the Triforce glowed on her hand when she had- when he was-

The pain in his chest again. It was sharper this time. Deeper. He couldn't hide his reaction this time, his body jerking forward slightly.

"Link?" His name from her mouth dripped with worry.

And as quick as the pain came, it was gone. He felt her hand on his shoulder and saw her leaning forward, trying to face him as he leaned over.

"Link, are you alright?" she asked, the concern that coated her words reaching a level he wasn't comfortable being the receiver of.

He righted himself and gave her a nod and a smile. It didn't ease the worry she clearly wore on her face, but he didn't know how else to respond.

"I'm fine," he signed. When she still didn't look convinced, he stood up straight and even puffed out his chest a bit. "See, I'm fine."

She looked only slightly convinced at his insistence.

"Well, what are we to do with ourselves as we wait?" she asked, her finger tapping at her chin.

He thought about it and, as his eyes drifted up, saw the one thing the Princess would love to do most. He unclipped the Sheikah Slate from his belt and handed it to her, giving a nod towards the blue-glowing Shrine across the village.


	4. Public Faces (Zelda)

The Shrine was already opened, a feat in which she was never able to accomplish on her own, but the Sheikah Slate still did not accept her instructions when it came to actually entering the Shrine. Link took the Slate back, used the same controls that she had, and the platform on which they stood began to lower – on its own! Zelda nearly jumped at the sudden downward movement, her hands automatically reaching for Link's in the moment of panic, but she managed to stop herself, fiddling her with fingers to keep her hands to herself.

Adjusting was… hard. She felt for Link, she truly did. His situation wasn't one to be envied, but she stood next to someone she used to be so familiar with. Now, that was just gone. No casual touches, no inside jokes, no history.

But being in a Shrine – finally being inside a Shrine – made her briefly forget her worries. Her hands covered her mouth as she looked at the inside of the Shrine in wonder.

"Are they all like this?" she asked, turning back to Link. He stood just a step away from the platform as she had traversed a little further. He held out a hand and rotated it side to side to say, 'kind of.'

Before her were two platforms, much larger than the one they entered in and with a supporting pillar. On one was a large metal cube. Link, now by her side, pushed the Slate back into her hands and gestured for her to try it out.

Zelda switched the Slate to its magnetism and stood on the lowered platform, right behind the giant metal box. She activated the Slate and began to move the box upward and forward when she heard a sound from Link – not a word, more like a beginning of one or perhaps a warning – and the next the she knew, Link had joined her on the platform with his sword drawn.

She almost asked him why when she realized the reasoning of his actions. The Shrines weren't just about puzzles. It made sense when she thought about it in the context of why the Shrines were created in the first place: training the next Hero. She nodded in confirmation and carefully set down the box on the other platform, lowering slowly. Link stood between her and the wall, so as they rose up, she saw what he was concerned about.

It wasn't close to them, not in the immediate sense, but the sight of an active guardian nearly froze her in her place. It was small, much smaller than the ones she had worked with (and later ran from). Link made quick work of it, running forward and hardly taking a minute to take it down. She watched as he took a few steps back and watched it combust, leaving behind only its weapons and a few parts of which he stashed away in his pack. His hand, just after dropping off the items, hovered over it for a moment like he was considering something but decided against it as his hand dropped back to his side.

She spent her time in the Shrine in silence, wishing she had a journal to write her notes down in. She ended up settling on using the Slate's picture function for future observation since Link had already collected the remains of the small Guardian.

"What function does this have?" she asked as they approached what looked like a glowing box, turning so she could see Link's response.

"The Sheikah monk Yah Rin used to be there," he signed. "He disappeared after I completed the trial and awarded me a spirit orb?"

"A spirit orb?" Zelda questioned. She had never found any mention of that in the texts she scoured over in her research. "Can I see one?"

"It's… not a physical thing," he signed, looking almost apologetic.

"Oh." She was a little disappointed, that was true, but she didn't know what else she was expecting. A tangible orb of spirit? If it was more of a blessing or a spiritual gift then… then that would explain why she saw Link at Hylia's shrines so often when she checked in on him, seeing as Sheikah monks were dedicated followers of Hylia.

They left soon after, returning to the platform and leaving the Shrine. Despite having felt like they were in the Shrine for an hour at most, Zelda saw that the sky glowed with the warmer hue of a sunset.

"I think time works differently in there," he signed with a bit of a shrug.

She would definitely have to test that someday, but not now. Below, she could hear the sounds of a crowd. She took a few steps forward to get a better view, seeing the people of the village gathered around with Rozel standing at the front.

And then someone yelled, "It's her! Princess Zelda!"

The moment of complete silence that passed nearly killed her, waiting to see if the reaction to her was a good or a bad thing.

A cheer erupted and a breath of relief left her. After a few moments of cheer, the people stilled, looking at her expectantly. She caught a knowing look from Rozel and then a nod, as if to confirm for her of the village's decision.

Oh dear. She should've prepared a speech.

"I must sincerely apologize to all of you for concealing my identity when we first arrived. It was not my intention to deceive you. The world has changed since I last lived in it, and I was unsure of how to approach you in my return." She paused to take a deep breath. "The world has changed. For better or for worse, this hundred year-long tragedy has forged a stronger, more resilient people. With Calamity Ganon gone, we won't just rebuild the old Hyrule but create a better one."

Somehow possible, the cheers of the villagers were even louder than before. A hand touched her shoulder, and she turned to Link, smiling. She smiled back, feeling a weight on her shoulders lighten.

"What was it like all those years?" one of the kids asked, his face lit up by the fire they sat around.

The village had gone on in celebration, much like the night before, after the agreement to help Zelda rebuild Hyrule. Afterwards, some returned back to their cabins, but a handful of those that did not have early morning duties to attend to continue into the night, culminating in this moment of fireside conversations.

"It was… different. I knew that time passed, but a minute didn't feel like a minute. It wasn't my attention but rather my energy, I believe, that was required in keeping Ganon partially sealed. Sometimes my mind would wander, but it never had a point of focus until Link woke up. I saw parts of the world through him, but it was never for long."

"Can you still use your sealing power?" a young woman asked.

"I… haven't tried. Link kept me from any harm on the way here, so I haven't had an opportunity to test it." Zelda raised her hand, looking at the tips of her fingertips. She remembered how it felt to have the power flow through her, like it was the essence of her entire being. It felt light and warm, soft and intangible. She had felt like that for so long after her power had awoken, and only now did she take notice that she felt solid and grounded. She reached into herself and thought of…

Her hand glowed. The symbol of the Tri-Force didn't show on the back of her hand in this small display, but it amazed the people of Lurelin village nonetheless. They oohed and aahed at the sight, saying nothing as it dimmed.

Her eyes caught Link's, who sat a few people away, the light of the fire illuminating his blue eyes. He didn't look as amazed as the others, considering he had seen her in a much more impressive light in their fight against Ganon. But she couldn't help but notice the slight furrow in his brow, the light purse of his lips-

"What was Hyrule like before?" the girl next to her asked.

Zelda was shaken from her thoughts, and she pushed herself back into the moment and smiled. "I'm not sure how to answer that, if I might be honest. Hyrule now, from what I've seen is… more wild, but that isn't a bad thing. The heart of what Hyrule was, it's still here, just smaller."

The girl didn't look entirely satisfied with the answer, but Zelda wasn't sure how else to answer it. Was she supposed to talk about the towns long gone, of the communities that used to reside in them?

"Link!" the girl called, and she immediately had Link's attention. "What was Hyrule like?"

Zelda looked to Link, nervous for both how he'd react to the question as well as his answer. She wracked her brain for something, anything to say that could give Link a way out of the discussion if he desires, but in that moment, she could only draw blanks.

But despite the silence and the stares, he didn't answer. He sat there with his eyes trained on the fire, unresponsive. Zelda's heart hurt at the silence, and she realized she wanted to know Link's answer just as much as the young girl had, though for different reasons.

No one pressed Link for an answer, not even the young girl who asked it. And they seemed to have taken notice of Link's non-answer and moved the conversation onto other topics, discussing travel and general activities that went by the wayside in the times of a seemingly endless spawn of monsters.

Link slipped away at some point, though Zelda was not sure of when that was. He was there and, when she turned to find him, suddenly he wasn't. She wanted to go and find him, but it proved harder for her to leave unnoticed as any move she made generally put her face to face with another one of the villagers. She could have decided to move on after a few pleasantries, but she knew the importance of making connections with them if she was to undertake the responsibility of restoring Hyrule.

Leading was never meant to be an easy job without sacrifices. She just hated that it meant putting aside her concern for Link who had already sacrificed so much.

Eventually, she did manage to leave once she started telling people how tired she was and how she should head to bed. Though with plans to wait a moment and then slip out to search for Link, she found him in their room, just sitting on the bed with a thoughtful look. The first step she took into the room grabbed his attention and he stood to greet her, but she waved it away and he sat back down.

"I noticed you left a little earlier," Zelda started. "Are you alright?"

His eyes flickered down, avoiding her gaze. Tentatively, she took a seat next to him.

"Do you want to know what Hyrule was like for you?" she offered. That got his attention. He looked up at her in a look she read as surprise, and she gave him a soft smile.

"You told me a bit about your life before serving in the Royal Guard – not everything but I believe it may be enough for this," Zelda began, feeling like her heart was beating in her throat with every word she spoke. She hoped this would help more than it'd hurt. "You lived in Castle Town. You've… seen the ruins. It was, uh, mostly two story buildings, a lot of shops on the first floor with homes above. It was more well-to-do than the other towns in Hyrule at the time. The castle had quarters for the cooks and the servants and the knights, but a lot of them had families that lived in town. Since the castle attracted travel, the town could afford more than just one general store or just one tailor, that sort of thing. I believe there was even a Guerdo woman who opened a jewelry store there.

"You lived on- on, uh the east side, I believe. Your father often worked in the castle, and your mother worked in the library as one of the few scholars in residence. Your mother would often go about, and you told me stories of how she'd travel and take you with her. While your mother did her work – Link?"

He had gripped her wrist – not so hard that it hurt but strong enough that she knew it was not a tender touch. Looking up from his touch to his face, she saw the silent plea written across his face.

Enough.

She nodded, and he let go. He leaned forward, holding his head in his hands. After she waited a moment for any further responses and received none, she stood and returned to her own bed and laid down, facing him. Her exhaustion from the day finally caught up to her as she laid in the soft bed, warm under the covers, and so she watched as Link continued to sit there, his eyes fixed to the ground as she slowly and gently drifted off into sleep.

That night, she dreamt of fireside stories from the past. They were scenes of the past, of traveling with Link after she made up with him, when he was starting to open up to her and talk to her. He told her of home, of his mother, of his travels.

When she woke and found that Link had made plans to travel to another village, she realized that the Link in her dream spoke but made no sound. That even when she tried right then to remember, she could not recall his voice.


	5. Wandering Thoughts (Link)

Link's sleep was plagued once more by the same nightmare that so terribly tossed him from his sleep the previous night. The dream would start again – more running, the feeling of being tired and cold and wet and afraid – and he'd pull himself out of it, somehow. It made for poor sleep, and eventually he decided it was more trouble than it was worth and began his day a little early. Again.

Rather than finding something to do with his hands to pass the time or to give his mind a break as he had done with Sebasto, he turned to planning the next step of Zelda's journey through Hyrule.

Honestly, he had no idea if she wanted to move on to the next place, but he needed to do something and figured she could always tell him no if she wanted to stick around a while longer. He brushed and fed the horses, mapped out the best route to Hateno village, and briefly left the village to find a Korok leaf.

On his return, the sun finally over the horizon, he began breakfast: a hearty mushroom omelet big enough for two. Once Zelda woke, they ate and he told her of his plan. She looked pensive at the idea and even questioned him on the state of their horses. After assuring her that they'd be taken care of by Rozel (expenses paid for, of course), he'd eventually return to take them both back to the nearest stable.

To his surprise, she was hesitant about leaving the horses. When he suggested that they could attach another raft to theirs and bring the horses along, she agreed that it would be better if they didn't do that. That was less surprising.

He waited by the raft, the Korok leaf sitting in his lap as Zelda returned to their room to fetch her few personal belongings and say her farewells to those that were awake. The ordeal lasted nearly an hour, pushing them closer to a noon departure than Link would've liked. With Calamity Ganon gone, he had no expectation of the skeletal monsters that plagued the night rising to fight them, but that didn't mean that night travel was now free of danger.

Finally, she boarded the raft and he began the task of fanning the sail until they rounded past Soka point and continued northeast to Loshlo Harbor. It was time consuming and, near the end, exhausting. Even with his intensive travels, the task still left his arms sore. It was possible that the lack of sleep was affecting his stamina, but he decided not to let his mind wander in that direction. He didn't like the implications of that effect.

"Perhaps we should camp here?" Zelda suggested as they walked away from the shore.

Link shook his head in response. The sun still had some ways to go before it touched the other side, and Hateno village wasn't too far from where they were already. Besides, he'd prefer it if he could get her to a place with a roof and a sense of security, otherwise he'd get even less sleep than the previous two nights.

"Hi, can you help me? I seem to be lost," someone asked as they neared the first split in the road.

Link froze and instinctively grabbed Zelda's hand. He was grateful it was on instinct as she had already started towards the lone woman and might've been out of immediate reach had he not done it so soon. She turned to him with a surprised and puzzled look, glancing from their hands and then to him. He gave a small, stiff shake of his head, hoping she'd understand without his say so as not to alert the stranger.

With the same kind of movement, she answered him with a nod and took one step back, not enough to arouse any suspicion.

The stranger took a few more steps towards them and asked, "Do you have a map I can borrow? I just need a little help…"

To keep her from getting too close to the Princess, Link met the woman halfway, his right hand itching to reach for the sword strapped to his back. He knew where this would go, but on the off chance it was just someone he could help…

"…in taking revenge on Master Kohga!"

Yeah, that made sense.

He pulled the Master Sword from his sheath and arched it in a downward strike. It hit the woman who, in a poof of smoke, showed her true colors. Another puff of smoke and she disappeared, and Link's eyes darted about to find the next location, his legs bent and ready to propel him forward at a moment's notice.

There! Nearly halfway between him and the Princess and about five feet north, he saw the light shining and ran over, his sword already drawn back and ready for the next strike- it connected! The Yiga fell back, tumbling a few feet and falling through the brush. When Link moved over to finish the job, smoke filled his vision, and his first thought was, a feint! and turned to rush over to Zelda where, just behind here, the yellow light grew until the foot soldier reappeared, wielding her sickle. He opened his mouth to warn her.

But nothing came.

His voice stuck in his throat, refusing to surface, gagged him. The memory of the desert flashed in his mind, Zelda having fallen, the Yiga clansmen surrounding her and him just barely able to make in time to save her.

He watched in slow motion as he charged towards the two of them, watching as the foot soldier grabbed Zelda from behind – one arm coming around the shoulder and reaching around to hold the other and the hand holding the sickle coming to hook around her neck.

I'm going too slow, he feared. I'm not going to make it.

But just as he watched everything happen in slow motion, he watched as Zelda's hand began to shine, then glow, and then he could feel it radiating out. It pushed him back, but more importantly, it pushed the combatant back as well, dropping the sickle at Zelda's feet.

Link's back touched the ground first, then his head, tumbling back and over himself to face the ground and land on his knees, sliding back. He wasted no time in the opening Zelda's power afforded him. He rushed to the Yiga member, raised his sword and –

"WAIT! Zelda screamed. And he stopped. The Master Sword was held over his head, nearly pointed straight up at the sky.

He didn't look back to Zelda, his eyes trained on the attacker who, now that he had time to really think on it, was laying on the ground… with their hand raised up defensively. Though it was Zelda who told him to stop, an order he obeyed, the sight of the woman on the ground froze him. This was not the behavior he was accustomed to. It always went the same way: a stranger asking for help, making a strange comment, and then fighting him until they forfeited the battle to him.

This was different. She wasn't leaving.

He heard Zelda's footsteps as she ran up, not to him but to the woman that had nearly killed her. Slowly, he lowered but did not sheathe the sword. He waited, waiting for the other shoe to drop. A ruse, a trick, something.

Instead, he watched as Zelda kneeled next to the woman and talked with her. He watched, unable to do anything else. He felt distant, and everything Zelda said sounded muffled. (A side effect from the blast?) After a minute of whatever it was she said, the woman on the ground raised a hand and removed the Yiga clan mask.

White hair. Brown eyes. Female but obviously different than the persona taken when acting as a stranger. This woman was Sheikah, not surprising as he knew of the clan's origin, but seeing the woman on the ground crying surprised him unlike anything else. She held onto Zelda, saying something that he couldn't hear at first but was slowly able to come to.

"…forgive me, please. Oh Goddesses, please forgive me," she begged. By now, Zelda had pulled the Sheikah woman onto her lap, smoothing down her hair and whispering acceptances of each apology the woman gave.

The setting sun should've placed a limit on how long the two were able to sit there uninterrupted, but Link was unable to find it in himself to tell them anything, much less to wrap up something that… that he never imagined was possible.

When Zelda looked up at him and it gave him the opportunity to sign, "What happened?" She silently mouthed, "Later."

Eventually, they got the woman to calm down – a harder task than it seemed either of them expected – and walked the final stretch to Hateno Village. Though Link still held an inkling of suspicion towards the woman he had recently fought against, Zelda's power still seemed to be active enough to protect her and he was able to run ahead and take out any monsters ahead of them.

Once at the gate of the village, the woman broke off from them, insisting that she shouldn't trouble them any further and that she should go her own way. It assuaged a bit of the suspicion that Link still held for her, but Zelda was more insistent that the woman stay with them. In the end, the woman went to the inn in Hateno, and Link guided Zelda back to his place.

She made a few comments he only half heard about the fact he owned a house and joked how it was "very him" to put up that sign in front of his house. His mind still reeled with the events of the past hour that even the thought of responding wasn't in the realm of possibility. He took a seat at the table downstairs and she took the other, folding her hands into her lap and looking around the room as if she would find the words to explain what happened in his ceiling and walls.

"I felt a darkness within her," she began after a while, "similar to the darkness in Calamity Ganon and his presence in the Guardians and the monsters of Hyrule. If I'm reading into this correctly, Calamity Ganon may have used a similar but subtler influence over some in the Sheikah clan. After all, it would make more sense than a large percentage of Sheikah would abandon their duties without warning."

He nodded. In that light, it did make sense, and it would work with why Zelda's power was able to put the woman in that state. It suddenly made him grateful that the Yiga clan had the tendency to disappear when the fight no longer favored them, rather than fighting to the death. He knew from his memories he had already killed one Yiga clan member and that it was likely that in his past he had killed others, but he didn't treat it lightly.

"I know you might hate this idea, but I saw how few of the Sheikah remain when I watched over you. If I could cleanse others, they could rebuild. That being said, Ganon's influence should be waning. Do you think it's possible the Yiga will come to their sense on their own over time?" she asked, to which he answered with an honest shrug. "I will ask Ora in the morning."

Ora. The woman must've told the Princess her name while he had been scouting ahead.

"The Yiga clan isn't just those who left Kakariko village. Some were born into it," Link signed. "Do you think they'd join just as easily?"

Zelda thought on it for a moment, cupping her chin with her hand as she thought. "It's worth a shot, is it not? The Yiga clan was born out of resentment towards the crown, and now we know that it might also have been influenced by Ganon himself."

Link tapped one hand's fingers on the table, trying to think over and plan how that might work. They couldn't just stroll up to their hideout and attempt to cleanse all of them. He was barely able to protect Zelda from one, much less one after the other in their own territory. Perhaps he could scout it out first, see if some of them were willing to come with him – to test her theory that some might be able to shake themselves loose. But for the time being, there were more pressing concerns.

"We should sleep," he signed. Hesitantly, she agreed and let him lead her upstairs. "I'll sleep downstairs."

She looked from the bed to him, the wheels in her mind obvious even from his perspective. Hesitantly, she agreed and bid him goodnight. He was thankful she didn't argue with him, and from how she accepted, he knew that she understood arguing with him wouldn't work.

He returned to the first floor and began to craft a makeshift bed beside the stairs. He gathered blankets and his Snowquill jacket from his pack, laying the blankets out on the floor and balling up the jacket into a ball to use as a pillow. Stripping his armor and outer layers to just his undershirt and pants, he laid down on his sleeping arrangement. It took him a moment to get situated on the hardwood floor, but it was undeniably more comfortable than his campfire rests out in the wild.

Link closed his eyes, listening to the rustling of the trees outside and the gurgling of the creek to guide him to sleep.

 _Air. His lungs burn, demanding air, but when he breaks the surface for a breath, he swallows a mouthful of water. The water is too fast – too much. His arms flail in the water as he struggles to stay afloat, much less swim to shore. He pushes himself up again, this time able to take a real breath of air, but not enough to call out for help._

 _The current pulls him under momentarily and he flails for purchase in the moving water once more. His breath is running out- it's running out- out-_

 _Air! He tries to breathe it in but finds himself coughing out the water and wasting precious time as he continues to bounce on the river's current, the strength threatening to pull him under again at a moment's notice._

 _His arms are getting too tired, his entire body too stiff in the cold water to keep fighting even though he has to._

 _Once more, his head dips below the surface. Up! He needs to get back up! When he finally resurfaces again, a sound louder than the river's current catches his ears: the sound of the waterfall._

 _His body feels the surge of panic anew and it gives his tired arms and legs just enough energy to try and make it to the shore again. He has to- he has to-_

 _Suddenly, he doesn't feel the pressure of his kicks in the water any more. He feels like he's slipping, the shore still no closer than before as suddenly the earth and water slip out from below him and he's falling- no, being pushed down by the falling water above him, pushing him down, down into the lake below._

 _Needles pin his back on the water's surface , and he sinks like a stone. Blackness swarms his vision momentarily and when he comes to, the water in his lungs is already too painful. He pushes himself up. He has to do it again. He has to._

 _The water is too much. It's too heavy._

 _He has to._

 _The surface is too far. He's too tired._

 _He has to._

 _His lungs burn. They swell and they burn with the water and-_

For the third night in a row, Link woke up in a panic- this time gasping for breath and covered in sweat, his clothes to sticking to his skin uncomfortably. He pressed his hand to his chest, feeling like he was still drowning, like the water was still there. He forced himself to take a deep breath, to prove to himself that he was able to breathe. It worked for the most part. His chest still felt constricted or like his lungs were only able to be half full, but it eased the nightmare-fueled panic partially.

The bare windows didn't shine any light into the room, the sky still dark. He wondered how long he had actually slept, but when he went to reach for the Sheikah Slate, the device that he had become accustomed to hanging on his hip, he remembered he had given it to the Princess. It didn't matter. He laid back down, intent on sleeping more even if it meant returning to the nightmare. He couldn't keep avoiding rest out of fear of his own mind when he needed to be in his best possible condition, especially considering that the future might hold seeking out Yiga members.

The sleep then after wasn't great, but it was more than he had gotten the night before. To his luck, the nightmare didn't visit him quite so vividly, coming in pieces. But it all felt so real. He couldn't shake the feeling as he woke up.

Next to his temporary quarters was Zelda, sitting on the floor with her back up against the wall and the Sheikah Slate in her hands, flipping through and studying the pictures she had taken of the inside of the Shrine.

"Good morning," she said. He looked up, realizing he had been staring. She looked pleasant towards him. Happy, even. Comfortable. He shifted, pulling the top blanket up to hide his sleeping form. "I believe this is the first time I've ever woken up before you."

He had a feeling she meant more than the time that he's remembered spending with her, and it wouldn't surprise him to know that his forgotten self used to have a similar habit. But despite the sleep his body still desired, he pushed himself up and got ready for the day, leaving the bed materials on the floor.

Zelda left him to change without his asking, and he changed into simple clothes, no armor. He didn't expect Zelda to want to venture back out of the safety of the village… though the reminder of the woman, Ora, back at the inn briefly made him reconsider his preparation for the day. In the end, he settled on the Champion's tunic and Hylian trousers, even pulling on the Hylian hood though keeping it pulled back. The tunic, though without the conventional look of armor, provided a great deal of resistance in battle, more so after he had the Great Fairies enhance it. His only qualm about it was the fact it was the same outfit he had fought in the fight against Calamity Ganon, but that didn't change the fact it was his only piece of clothing that at least looked like he wasn't preparing for a fight.

Link left the house, partially expecting to have seen her waiting by the door, and was concerned that she had left to visit Ora without him. He sprinted over the bridge, meaning to run the entire way to the inn, but he came to a grinding halt with his boots dragging a dust cloud behind him when he heard Zelda's voice-

"Your farm looks pristine! How often do you have trouble with runoff from rain when cultivating on a slope?"

There she was, talking with Nack. He looked perplexed at the newcomer with her questions, but didn't seem particularly put off by it. Link managed to reach her side just as Nack was beginning to talk about how it sometimes results in a loss of crop in really wet seasons, but if they know ahead of time that there might be a strong rainfall, they try their best to set up strategic dams to protect the crops, with the help of the Bolson Construction company.

"Link! Is this nice girl your friend?" Nack asked. Link nodded. "She's a real peach. What did you say your name was?"

Link felt a chill rise in him at the question. He wondered when he'd be used to the fact the Princess would have to introduce herself. He studied Nack's face carefully as Zelda dropped her own name, watching as it slackened into shock, then to confusion, and lastly to joy. He smiled and took her hand into both of his, shaking it vigorously.

"By all things that are right and holy- Goddesses! The Princess!"

"You seem… fairly accepting of my identity," Zelda pointed out. She looked stiff and awkward at the response, and that was when Link realized that she had only revealed her identity to someone on her own once, that the rest of Lurelin village was brought up to speed by Rozel.

"I mean, myth was it that you were holding Calamity Ganon back and we've gotten reports that it's gone! And the monsters we fight off near the village aren't returning! High heavens, I almost can't believe it's you… but it's you! You look just like how the royal family was said to be, that indeed," Nack rambled. When he turned to Link, the shock seemed to renew. "That must mean you're Link! I mean, you're really Link- the Hero!"

At this point, Nack's voice had grown loud and incredulous enough to attack a small crowd: the children, the mid-day gossipers, and even a few travelers. Link wished he had kept his hood up, feeling the stares bore into him. Like in Lurelin, he hadn't exactly kept his identity a secret, mostly due to the fact he always felt like he was stumbling around in the larger than life shoes of his past, but at the same time, he didn't purposefully hide the Master Sword or lie when people asked him.

But this? He wished the attention stayed with the Princess and not leaked over onto him.

In response to Nack's reveal, he nodded just to confirm that the man's thoughts were true, but once that was done, he watched as Nack dropped to his knee not a second later. He heard a shuffle from behind him and saw the other villagers – aside from the children – take a knee in a circle around him. They kept their eyes towards the ground, leaving him unable to tell them to get up. Looking up, he saw that the commotion had drawn people from their houses.

Then, one person whose name Link found that he couldn't remember, an older woman who had opted to stand with her head bowed rather than kneel, said, "You've done Hateno village a great service twice over, Hero. You led the charge against the Guardians, keeping them from breaching the fort, and saved our home one hundred years ago, and today, you have saved us from the Calamity once and for all."

 _The charge narrowly misses him, singeing his pants as he hits the burned grass with his shoulder, rolling over and-_

"No," he signed. "You owe me nothing. I-"

 _-he charges the eye of the Guardian, striking it true before one of its limbs hit him, throwing him back. It knocks the wind from him twice, once on impact and the second when his back hit a tree that stopped him from going any further. But it-_

"We wouldn't be here if not for your actions," a man said. Link knew his face, but couldn't seem to place the name. "And yours, Princess, in saving him too."

 _-hurts. He had heard a snap. Him or the tree, he can't tell. Through the clang of steel and the blasts from the Guardians, Link hears his name called through. The pain fades – briefly – and he ran to her, seeing her being faced down by the turned machine. He strikes it down and pulls her, and begins to race her to the fort once more when the pain returned – sharp and agonizing. It hurts to breathe, it hurts to breathe, it-_

-hurt to breathe. It was too real. He couldn't shake it this time. He couldn't even hide it. He fell to his hands and knees and instantly felt the Princess's presence next to him, her hand on his shoulder. She kneeled and leaned as best she could to face him, but he wouldn't look her in the eye, not as he snatched the Sheikah Slate from her hip and clicked to travel to whatever he blindly selected.

It felt like a wash of cool water over him and, just before he left entirely, he saw her eyes: big, green, and scared.


	6. Working in Wait (Zelda)

It all happened so fast, Zelda didn't know what to process first: Link's collapse or his disappearance. She tried to recall his face as she last saw it. Her memory was far from perfect and she had only seen his face for a split moment before he vanished into streams of light, but she could recall the bags under his eyes, the constricted pupils, brows drawn together, and… and a hand grasping at his chest. Oh, how could she have been so ignorant? He was-

Panic brewed in the crowd, voices raised and pulling her from her thoughts. People began to ask her all manner of questions, concern evident on their faces for their Hero that collapsed and vanished before their eyes. She wanted to join them but knew they were looking to her for answers.

"Princess?" a young girl asked her, tugging at Zelda's hand to get her attention. "What happened to Link? Is Link okay?"

"I… I'm sure he's fine. I think he was simply overwhelmed." She looked out at the people around her. No one was still kneeling at this point. Not that she minded. It was easier to converse with people when they were eye level.

"I've never seen him react like that before," a man pointed out, his face just barely visible behind the person who stood in front. "He's always been so… even keeled."

A murmur of agreement ran through the crowd.

"I… I don't think he's used to the attention. Before Ganon's return, he rarely entered the spotlight," she told the villagers. It wasn't completely true, what she said. People looked up to him so much that the pressure of it made him shut himself off, trying to look and act the part the people expected him to be: the fearless Hero, the one who would save them all. Still, he had privilege to a childhood with more privacy than she, less accustomed to the life of a public figure.

Her answer seemed to sway the people just enough.

"I'm sure he'll return as soon as he can. In the meantime, I'm pleased to meet all of you. Is there a place we can talk until Link returns? I had a few things I wished to discuss with Hateno village."

The man who began the whole ordeal, Nack, nodded and led her towards the inn. The people followed behind, and she became aware of the possibility that she would have to give a speech. Again, something she should have prepared ahead of time. She had been too focused on the Shrine, then Ora, and now her thoughts were consumed with her worry for Link.

The way he looked at her that moment before he disappeared, she knew he was in pain. Not the kind of pain one would be left with after a fight but one that ghosted over healed scars. She had seen him briefly recoil in a similar way on the beach and she had allowed him to convince her it was nothing. She should've been more insistent, but at the same time, what could she even do to help him? Her thoughts turned to the Great Deku tree and the advice it gave her.

"Princess?" Nack asked her as they approached the entrance of the inn.

And once again, she was drawn from her thoughts back to the present.

"I apologize. There's a lot on my mind," she explained. It earned her a nod from Nack, one she took as a sign of understanding. Though she had told the girl not to worry, that did not mean that she herself didn't.

She made a note in her mind to return to her musings on Link's pain and how it connected to his memories with what the Deku tree told her so she could stay focused on what she was doing in the present.

They all gathered on the deck around tables and chairs pulled from other areas. They didn't have one central figure to guide their town, she soon learned. The village, though much larger than that of Lurelin, was small enough that they voted on issues that affected their community as a whole. Most of the issues were on how much game could be hunted without affecting the next season too badly or what changes needed to be made to the volunteer guard system.

A small blessing but one Zelda was forever grateful for was the lack of expectation placed on her to make a speech. It was likely due to their system of lax governing, but a blessing was a blessing still. Instead, she brought up the same proposal she had to Lurelin: re-establishing a larger government, rebuilding bridges, and so on.

Their main concern was in eliminating local monsters in order to bring in more travelers and traders without the risk of being attacked in the forest. A small thought passed in her mind, imagining Link there by her side and simply standing up to go fight off the local monsters right away. The thought passed, leaving her lonely within the group.

"Where are you planning on staying?" someone asked. "I've heard the old castle is little more now than ruins."

"That's true," she said, the image of the floor giving out in the middle of the throne room flashing before her. "At the moment, I have no plans. As the Sheikah people have been guarding the royal family for generations, I suppose staying at Kakariko village would be the safest place, though perhaps not the best location to conduct business from."

A man in the back of the crowd stood up. He was balding on the top of his head and wore a twisted pink cloth tied around his forehead.

"Bolson, from Bolson Construction Company," he introduced himself. "I would consider it an honor to aid in the rebuilding of Hyrule Castle, if I'm so permitted." A pause. "And adequately funded."

"A castle is too big a space for one Princess. It's meant to house the guard, the servants, the scholars, and so on. Until it can be properly used, I believe there are better places to use your talents." She smiled as best she could despite herself. "But I thank you generously for the offer."

He nodded and sat back down, but she could spot a hint of disappointment as he did so. Still, the offer did stick in her mind as the rest of the meeting went on. It made sense to restore one of Hyrule's most notable landmarks as a sign of returned prosperity, but that would take supplies, effort, and funding she didn't have at her disposal. On top of that, she couldn't imagine most of the people in Hyrule being too happy about being taxed just to rebuild a large, ostentatious building when there were roads to tend to and outposts to be build.

By the end of the meeting which had gone until the afternoon, those that were at the deck-based meeting enthusiastically agreed to support her return to the throne. As the meeting dispersed, her ears perked at the sound of Link's name on the lips of the people. She heard their amazement that the Link that ran around and helped them turned out to be that Link. Some talked about how they were worried for him, disappearing like he had. Others were excited for his return, planning possible feasts in his honor. From how he reacted earlier, she wasn't sure that would be a great idea, but she couldn't bring herself to tell them so.

Despite offers to show her around or to walk her back to Link's home, she elected to take herself back. It was a fairly simple route, she told them, and she had a lot to mull over. But rather than going into the house right away, she walked to the Shrine. Her hand went to her hip, wanting to test the Shrine's response to her again and to see the inner workings of this one, but then she remembered how Link disappeared and what he took with him. So she sat down on the floor of the Shrine, leaning against the interface.

There, Zelda let herself fall back on her earlier thoughts. What had the Deku tree told her again? Link had no memories of his own. She had concluded that meant the things Link remembered, he remembered through her. Her photos, her perspective, her memories. Even when she thought she was helping him, telling him about Link's past, that was through her words, her rendition of them.

But that didn't mean he would never remember anything of his own by himself. What had happened in the morning proved that a strong enough trigger could bring back a memory. She wished she had come to that conclusion before. She could've prevented it. Well, maybe not, but she could've been there for him better. She could have-

"Princess?"

Zelda nearly jumped out of her clothes as she was startled from her thoughts. Next to her was Ora, the Yiga she had used her power on. The older woman managed to have sneaked up on her, accidentally, in all likelihood. Zelda still remembered her younger years in the Castle, having a Sheikah guard following behind her unseen and often scaring her half to death whenever they had to make an appearance. Obviously, she had gotten used to it then, but times had changed. She was no longer as young as she was when she roamed the halls of the castle without a worry.

"Ora! It's… it's good to see you. I meant to meet with you once the meeting with the villagers was through, but I must've been lost in my thoughts. I apologize," Zelda said. She was about to stand to be at eye level (or near it, anyhow, as Ora seemed to have more than a few inches on Zelda) when Ora waved her down and took a seat opposite from her, her legs crossed and her body nearly impossibly still.

Ora waved away Zelda's concern and took a seat next to her, folding her legs under her. She looked out towards the horizon, the peaks and valleys of the distant mountains cresting the colorful sky. "You managed to lift a fog that I've known since I was a young girl. It was oppressive and crushing and… attractive to fall in step with, but you took it away. I know by blood that I am Sheikah and sworn to the Royal Family, but I wish to pledge an oath to you that I will never raise a blade against you."

Zelda lingered on Ora's words, rolling them over in her head as if it was code to decipher, a language to translate. Still, her mind lingered on Link. She was worried. Goddess, she was so worried, she was sure it showed, but right behind those worries were her previous musings, lifting that same fog that Ora described away from the affected clansmen. If she wanted to help them - really help them so that they would be able to join the rest of the Sheikah once more, allowing Ora to reconfirm the sacred Sheikah duty that she had reneged due to Ganon's influence…

But making this decision without Link by her side made her uneasy. He was always a voice of reason, whenever she was too quick to trust or too focused an issue to consider all sides. The way he originally regarded Ora after the fight, Zelda was positive that Link would advise her to deal with Ora with caution. And without that buffer, that extra layer of protection where she knew no matter what she did, suddenly her convictions faltered.

"I wish to accept, Ora, but I believe it is a decision to be made by the Sheikah." One glance spared at Ora showed the older woman's disappointment. "But you will go with my recommendation. I will vouch I felt Calamity Ganon's influence on you and that I banished its remaining influence."

It didn't seem to be the answer Ora was hoping for, but she accepted it nonetheless. Ora didn't say another word, keeping the Princess company through the silence as the sun set, shrouding them in the relative darkness of town.

"I'm waiting for him," Zelda told her. "The Sheikah Slate lets him travel to Shrines, and this is the only one here so… I'm waiting."

Ora ended up staying by Zelda's side until she decided to head back to Link's home to rest for the next day, Ora stopping at the entrance, bidding Zelda good night, and making herself at home beside the fire pit next to the house.

Returning to his home without him felt intrusive and seeing the remains of his temporary bedding without him in them made her feel alone beyond belief. For a hundred years she fought against Calamity Ganon but that was done innately, coming in an out of active consciousness only to check on the state of things - never long enough to remember she fought alone. Even before that, she had Link and the Champions. Though, before then… yes, in that moment, she felt just as alone as she had before Link came into her life.

There was a small parcel package just behind the door, topped with a few scratches that told her it was a welcoming gift from some of the villagers. Inside were clothes, some preserved goods, and a note. The clothes included a night gown, two dresses, a pair of slacks, and two blouses. The note said that a pair of shoes were on their way, but they needed her to stop by for a fitting in order to do so. She might've considered refusing the additional gift if her sandals – which she used to wear solely for ritual purposes – weren't starting to chafe the surrounding skin after so much use.

She readied herself for bed, replacing her day clothes with the night gown gifted and climbed into bed, wrapping herself tightly in the blankets and trying to find the peace needed to drift to sleep.

The house creaked.

It creaked the night before, she remembered that now, but suddenly it was unsettling and disturbing. She wasn't defenseless. She kept Calamity Ganon partially sealed for a hundred years. She saved Link's life with her power. And just the previous day, she not only defended herself against the Yiga now known as Ora but saved her. She didn't need Link by her side to be safe but she needed him there to make her feel safe.

Eventually, sleep found her. She dreamt of the Shrine and the strings of light that carried Link away.

Link didn't return that morning. Or the one after that. Zelda busied her body and mind by working with the villagers at Hateno village. She came about a journal and began documenting the specific needs the villagers expressed to her as well as her thoughts and plans. Part of her wished she could delegate this task to someone else, but the problem was that there was no one else.

Ora shadowed Zelda as she made her way through the village, keenly reminding her of her time in the Castle. Briefly, she wondered if she could play the same games she used to but decided against it. She wasn't a child anymore who could get away with messing with her guards. It was one of the many things she learned from Link when she had him by her side.

She met with Purah and Symin at the end of the third day of her stay, the second day without Link. Purah's new appearance was… surprising to say the least, but her personality remained the same even after all this time. In a weird way, she was glad Purah was suddenly younger. Obviously, Zelda wanted to see her notes on it, but Purah's regressed age meant that Zelda had someone other than Link who might stay with her as time went on.

The fourth day, after spending more time with the villagers and obtaining a pair of replacement shoes, Zelda spent the last half of the day comparing and sharing notes. It nearly felt like old times – surrounded by books, loose papers, and research notes – as they discussed the Guardian technology and other forms of advancement.

"I want to disable the remaining Guardians," Zelda said. The sudden statement brought such an extreme reaction from Purah that she nearly fell out of her seat.

"But they're safe now! The Calamity is gone and I still have all the research on how to control them. Besides, Ganon isn't returning for another ten thousand years! What's the worry?" Purah asked.

"I still remember quite clearly the way that the Guardians tore through Castle Town and the attack on Fort Hateno. I wish to continue our research, but we have no need for machines that have killed our own people so terribly. And can people ever trust them anymore? When was the last time you faced a Guardian? I watched as Link - Link - Hero of Hyrule skirted the edges of Guardians. I watched as he faced the possibility of death again, Purah, and this time without the support of us being able to get him somewhere safe." Zelda took a breath, realizing she had raised her voice and felt her hands shake at her own memories. She sunk back into her chair.

"The Guardians were meant for war with a younger enemy. They'll be useless against future returns of Ganon and too powerful to use against anyone else. What happens if a tyrant takes the throne an asserts control through the Guardians? Purah, we can still study and use the ancient technology. I went into a Shrine with Link, and it had this floating platform as an entrance. If we can make something that everyone can use and benefit from, I think we should start there."

Purah nodded, seemingly subsided by Zelda's answer, not that she looked particularly happy either. Zelda watched as Purah tapped at her own chin, staring down at the research notes before them, as if she was trying to find a proper project to pursue.

"Snap!" Purah said aloud while also snapping her fingers. "The Shrine of Resurrection! I haven't been there in… well, in a century, but we could go back and try to figure out how it works now that the Shrines all have power."

Zelda nodded, the cogs in her mind already spinning. "Yes! Obviously, it took a hundred years to bring Link back from the brink of death while on low power. I'm sure the original users meant for it to be much more efficient, but how long would it take to heal a broken bone? Can it treat ailments or disease? Does it only work on the Hero, as all the other Shrines do?"

"We'd need to bring in an expert on Hylian and Sheikah medicine – or perhaps someone with a penchant for healing powers. We have no indication that the Zora contributed at all to the Shrine, since they were all very much Sheikah in writing, design… well, you know, but maybe this one was made through a partnership," Purah added on.

"But it would make sense seeing as it uses healing waters to place its subject in suspended animation as it heals," Zelda said in agreement. "Perhaps my next stop should be Zora's Domain. Of course, I should go there anyways to greet the King and ask for his and his people's aid in helping rebuild Hyrule, but while I'm there…"

Her thoughts trailed off once they hit the roadblock of traveling to Zora's Domain. She would need Link to escort her, but she had no idea of where he was or how to contact him. Unless…

Zelda stood up, a surge of energy and determination flowing through her with her latest idea. How had she not thought to try this earlier?

"I apologize for cutting our time together short, Purah, but I need to return to Link's house," Zelda said as she quickly gathered her things and bolted out the door. A light rain began as she ran down the hill, and she heard the steps of Ora behind her though she paid little mind to them.

She kept running until her body made it too uncomfortable to continue, barely making it to the bridge before Link's house. Her steps slowed but didn't stop as she tried to catch her breath, feeling the cold air stinging in her lungs. She pushed open the door, leaving it open partially, too lost in her own thoughts and partially to let Ora know she could come inside with her.

Zelda took a seat on the floor, crossing her legs and straightening her back as she closed her eyes and tried to focus. The only sign Ora had come in was the sound of the door closing, as the older woman otherwise made no sound unless needed. At some point, Zelda felt a blanket draped over her shoulders, holding in her warmth that had been slowly drained from her wet clothes.

But all of that, too, she tried to block out in order to focus. In her mind, she thought a single word: Link.

It was different from the time she had been trapped within the Calamity – her being more ethereal than tangible and her mind more in tune with her powers – where she now had to actually to reach for her power to send out her thoughts or to find Link. She reached deep, trying to remember every detail of his face, his eyes, his hair, his stature, his… no, his voice still eluded her.

Zelda sent out the thought again. Link.

She thought of their time together a century ago: the embarrassment she felt when Mipha told her Link mainly spoke through sign language; the rapturous look Link had when she prattled on about her research with Purah, Impa, and Robbie, even though she was sure he only understood half of what she was saying; and the warmth that flowed through her when she saw him rest soundly, glad he was even temporarily relieved of the same pressure of destiny that weighed her down slipping from his composure as he slept.

Link.

She thought about his public face and his private one, how she used to only know his public one, the stoic, silent face of the Hero. She thought on the times they opened up to each other. Their mutual fears of not being enough, not being the people that prophecy foretold was needed to save Hyrule. Her fear that the reason she couldn't access her powers was because she was too technical minded, that maybe her mother was the one everyone needed and not herself. His fear of dark forests and being unable to help those he cared for.

Link.

How he smiled at the sight of a big meal. How he laughed that one time she fell asleep on her desk and woke with a paper sticking to her forehead. How his fingers twitched when he spoke out loud. How he-

-rolled to the side, barely dodging a large, falling rock. No, not a rock. An arm of a Stone Talus.

Link, he heard.

He froze at the sound of her voice, clearly not expecting it. He looked around, looking for a source as if she might've been there with him, but in his distraction, he was unable to see and dodge the returning attack that knocked him back. He flew some ways, the breath knocked out of him, and rolled to a stop.

Link quickly got back up on his feet and notched another arrow, taking careful aim, and firing at the ore deposit on the monster's back. It shattered and the Stone Talus fell, now forever dead without the Blood Moon to resurrect it.

Link.

He sighed and shook his head, walking up to the remains of the beast. He kicked aside rock to find gems, putting them in his pack. He sat on the ground, resting his head in his hands for just a moment – long enough to take a deep breath – before reaching for the Sheikah Slate.

He knew he had been away for too long. He was sorry.

Zelda's eyes shot open. Link was home.


	7. Do Not Disturb (Link)

In some manner of irony, the selected location had been the Shrine of Resurrection. He felt himself re-constructed on the floor of the Shrine in the same position he had been in. Though he was on his hands and knees, his arms shook from the panic in his veins, and he unceremoniously dropped himself onto the floor. The cool stone floor felt nice against his warm skin, and the pressure of his chest on the ground calmed his fast beating heart. He listened to it slow and slow until it reached a normal pace for him to close his eyes with relative peace.

Link didn't remember falling asleep, but he woke some time later feeling groggy though altogether rested. He pulled himself up, feeling somewhat ashamed for falling asleep on the floor without intending to. Dusting himself off, he looked between the two doors available to him: out to the plateau or back into the heart of the Shrine.

It took him longer than he thought was necessary to decide, and he ended up going back, visiting the place he woke in, alone and confused. Not scared – he remembered that clearly. He had nothing to be fearful of except the unknown, and to that he was only confused. Even then, he had Zelda's voice to follow. She reminded him of his name and gave him a purpose. That had been enough to follow. He didn't need his memories to fight.

Now that his mission was over, he was being given back his memories. Was it a prize? A consolation gift for his work in saving Hyrule?

He wandered around the… actually, he didn't know what to call it. Slab? Chamber? Bed? A bed made the most sense, seeing as the healing process was called a Slumber of Restoration. The bed he woke from, the water draining as he woke from his century long slumber. He sat on the side of the bed, both nervous and comforted by the feel of the stone. Nervous because the healing stole his memories and an irrational part of himself feared that even being near it might steal away a few more. But he couldn't place a reason to the feeling of comfort. His only guess was that it was his first memory, waking healed and safe and oblivious, even if for a small time.

As he stood, he caught a flash of movement from within the bed, and when he turned to investigate it, out appeared a korok.

"Yahaha!" it laughed in that way he had come to know. "You found me!" Then it handed him a korok seed, and he added it to his collection of who knows how many.

"How did you get in here?" Link asked out loud. His voice, as usual when he chose to speak for the first time in a while, sounded soft and a little scratchy. Koroks were easy for him to talk to, he found soon after he woke. He remembered when he first saw one after he dove into a spot of water, through a ring of lily pads. They looked silly and harmless, giving him weird seeds that he hadn't been yet sure why they had them or why they gave them to him.

"No one would find me here!" it gleefully answered, and Link was inclined to agree. The Shrine was stuck in a hole in the side of a cliff, no marker to note its true identity. On top of that, it was on a raised section of land that Link was sure he was only one that walked on it for quite some time, monsters and fauna excluded.

"You should go home. No need to hide anymore."

Link turned on his heel and left the Shrine. Outside, the sun shone at its peak in the sky, barely any clouds obscuring it. It was a nice day, and he had spent the first half of it in panic and then deliberately far away from his charge. Guilt filled him slowly as the hours went on and he still did not return. He stalked the wilds, ridding monsters from the northern portion of the plateau.

The fighting took his mind off things, but at the end of every fight, he remembered and felt the guilt rush back in full force. The guilt ran through his head over and over that he abandoned her in favor of avoiding his memories. Who knew if there would be another Yiga attack or if Ora was hiding her intentions, waiting for a proper moment to take out the Princess. Yet he pushed it down every time and continued where he was.

As night fell, he retired to the Temple of Time. He had left his impromptu bed materials at his house in Hateno, but his hood could function as a blanket and he could bundle up his Snowquill pants for a pillow. Once his "bed" was set up and a fire was made, he took a seat at the base of the Hylia statue.

 _What happened to the other Heroes?_ he thought to the Goddess's likeness. _Did they have happy endings? Is this my happy ending, and I'm just ungrateful? I'm alive, despite everything._

He felt like one of the fabled Heroes that made it into surviving records, the one that skipped seven years of his life in this very temple, misplaced in his own time. Except for Link, he had his childhood even if he didn't remember it and that it was a century he missed, not just a few years. But there was no point in comparing.

The statue didn't respond, not that he actually expected it to.

Link returned to his fire, taking the time to prep and cook his meal methodically. The process had a similar effect as fighting had, busying his hands and mind. Unlike fighting, cooking left him with a meal, and a good one it was too. Prime cut meat, cooked with truffles and carrots. Each bite of the stew practically melted in his mouth. Along with the day he had, the large meal left him full and tired. He laid down on the makeshift bed and, despite the cold, hard stone, he found sleep easily.

He woke feeling more rested than he had in days. But it wasn't until he began readying himself for the day that it hit him why: he didn't have a nightmare. He didn't struggle against a restless mind that was hell bent on force feeding him his past in small, indecipherable bits. Once that thought came to him, it was hard not to let it affect the guilt inside him. Returning to Hateno village previously seemed like an unattractive option, scared to return to the same reception, but he knew the only difference between last night and all of his other nightmare-ridden nights: Zelda.

He tested the idea by staying another day, ignoring the rational part of him that begged him to return to Hateno village, to ignore his own anxieties in favor of keeping the Princess safe. He ignored it the same way he did the day before: taking out the more of the monsters on the plateau.

He returned to the Temple of Time and slept another peaceful night. The guilt only got worse once he woke. He had been away for too long. Though he had left Zelda close to Purah, one of the few remaining people who knew both of them before the Calamity, it didn't ease his conscience. Before he lost his memory, he was her guard. He was the one that helped her defeat Calamity Ganon and had been with her since. While he could come up with a handful of reasons to excuse his behavior, he knew it wasn't right.

The third night away, if he remembered correctly, coincided with the same night of a blood moon, the ones that would resurrect the felled monsters under Ganon's control. He stayed up later into the night, watching the moon rise from the entrance of the temple.

The rising moon brought memories to mind; not from before his century long sleep but from after, exploring a world he had forgotten, running late in the night to find a fallen star piece or simply watching the stars reveal themselves in the sky before he drifted asleep under them. Not that all the memories were that nice, considering the skeletal monsters that rose from the ground once darkness fell or that first time he experienced the blood moon, waking to the resurrected monsters he had slain the night before.

The monsters had seemed tiringly endless, but so had Hyrule. It seemed impossibly big at the beginning, full of potential at every turn. Korok hiding under rocks or in the lilypads, Shrines cloaked in puzzles simply to find them, and the innumerable other curious people out there who shared the passion for adventure and discovering the forgotten pockets of Hyrule. Goddess, how much fun it had been when he found the shield surfer in the Hebra mountains who showed him the long route down and challenged him to go faster and faster. Even wearing the Snowquill attire, he still favored the memory of rushing down the mountain with the chilled air stinging his cheeks and eyes.

But that third night away from the Princess, alone once more under the twinkling stars with the full moon reaching its zenith, bathing the land with white light instead of red, he didn't feel content. Happy, yes, for the now gone event of the blood moon, but he didn't feel content as he used to, falling asleep by the fire alone after a long day.

Despite the fact that Zelda had been by his side only a few days in comparison to all the days he lived since waking and that it was possible that simply being around her was triggering all of his forgotten memories to resurge and painfully so, something about having her near him felt right. It felt natural.

Yet still, he couldn't bring himself to open the Sheikah Slate and return.

He continued to wander the plateau, now devoid of all monsters except for one. He spent the day picking berries and peppers, traveling up to the top of the mountain just to see that sight again, and finding the last Koroks hidden, just to put off facing down that last monster that would mean nothing else could possibly keep him there.

A light rain fell over the plateau in the afternoon, and Link waited it out under a tree just outside of the opening to the Shrine of Resurrection. At one point in the wait, he found himself dozing off just because he could, waking up with a jerk when his sleeping form threatened to fall to the side and into a spot of mud. By then, the rain had let up and he paraglided down to the rock formation, landing on it to let it know he was there.

Quickly, he jumped off and pulled out his bow, aiming swiftly but carefully with an explosive arrow as the bumbling rock formation drew itself up. The arrow flew and found its target, briefly stunning the creature as it fell forward, obstructing his view of the ore deposit. He ran around, keeping a safe distance between him and the Stone Talus. It was already starting to stand up again when he fired another arrow, though this one didn't keep it stunned.

They traded off shots, the Stone Talus throwing one of its boulder arms at him before he would send back another arrow. It reared one of its newly acquired arms back, and Link crouched slightly, bending his knees to dodge at the last second, rolling shoulder first on the well-tread ground. He reached back for another arrow and-

 _Link_.

He froze. _Zelda_ , he thought in return, his head whipping around to find her before he understood she wasn't actually there with him, not physically. And with his back turned on the Stone Talus, it hit him, throwing him across the dirt expanse. It was almost painful to hold on to during the hit, but he managed to keep his grip on his bow. When he came to a stop, he rushed to his feet and let loose another arrow, this one being the killing blow. The ore deposit cracked and the Stone Talus crumbled before him.

 _Link_ , he heard again, now sure it was the same way she used to communicate with him when she was using her powers to seal Ganon. But she had only used her powers twice since the final fight. Did she need him back or was she worried?

He remembered her eyes as he ran away. He felt guilt for abandoning his duty to protect her, but she had shown such unhindered worry in her face, not the kind one wore for appearances.

When he woke on this plateau and set out to save the Princess and help her seal away Ganon, he hadn't done it out of duty. He learned his duty through his memories, but he had wanted to help before. It wasn't about saving a damsel in distress – in fact, she was more capable than him in some ways – or defeating Ganon to save the world; he had done it because it was right, because he saw a way in which he could help someone who needed it.

He shook his head, moved to gather the valuable remains of the monster, and took a seat on the ground. He had been such a fool, and not just for the last few days. Each time he found the location of one of Zelda's pictures, one memory coming to him at a time, he was happy. He got to learn about the Princess that kept Ganon sealed away on her own for the last hundred years, about who she was, and what led the both of them to the current situation.

Link took out the Sheikah Slate and found the location of the Shrine in Hateno village. He had been away for too long, and for everything, he was sorry.

He materialized at the Shrine, still sitting as a heavy rain hit him instantly. In a manner of seconds, the rain had thoroughly soaked him and Zelda, who came running out of his house without a shred of hesitation.

Time seemed to slow. He jumped to his feet, determined to meet her halfway. She barely made it to the bridge as he met her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her so close that he could feel the fast beat of her heart. They stood like that in the rain for longer than they should, until they were both shivering and not even their combined body heat could keep them warm.

Ora was inside his house when they returned, sitting at the base of the stairs with her legs crossed. Though she showed no reaction to them entering, she did stand and fetch blankets for them, bundling them up in a rather motherly fashion. Rather than going upstairs, Zelda took a seat next to his temporary bed and patted the bedding next to her.

When he sat down, his hands under the blanket wrapped around him, she finally spoke.

"I was worried, you know," she said. He didn't look away from her. Even though she looked forward rather than at him, he kept his eyes on her. "When you collapsed and when you didn't come back. I kept waiting." At this, she laughed. "I do a lot of that, I suppose. For you."

Before he could wiggle out his arms to answer her, Ora appeared with two mugs of warm drink and set them near the two of them. He gave her a nod, letting her know his thanks for obviously watching over Zelda while he was away. Though he watched her leave through the front door, she didn't go far. He had a feeling she would be right outside despite the weather.

"I should've paid more attention to how you were feeling," Zelda continued, not having noticed Link wanting to respond. "You have always put others first with little or no regard of how it much it costs you. I don't want to be another burden you carry. I want you to be by my side because you want to be, not because you think you have to or that you feel like you owe me something."

Even though he had his hands free now, he found he had nothing to say. Well, nothing that required anything fancy. He rested a hand on her shoulder, finally getting her attention. He wondered how she looked at him, what she saw. Not about which version of himself she saw in him, the matter of his forgotten and current self. No, he wondered about what she saw, because when he looked at her, he still felt that familiar pang of guilt as he had the first day they were reunited, but it felt softer.

Now when he looked at her, he also saw the small wrinkle in her brow from where it furrowed from her constant thought, how when she looked at him that it started unsteady, flickering away for a moment before returning strong. He looked at her and saw her feats, her compassion, her passion for research, her stubbornness.

She didn't say anything. Not when he reached his arm out a little more to take hold of her other shoulder and pull her close. She leaned her head on him, her wet mop of hair soaking through his blanket to introduce a chilled spot on his shoulder. And there they fell asleep.


	8. The Return (Zelda)

Link stood behind her, one hand on her shoulder and the other over the hand that drew back the arrow on the bowstring. Her arms trembled under the tension of the bow and bowstring that wished to return to its resting state. When Link had stopped adjusting her posture and took a step back, she let the arrow fly.

It missed its target by a large margin and the arrow hit the side of the cliff, bouncing off harmlessly. She dropped her tired arms to her side and turned to Link.

"Why are we doing this, again? I understand your concern, but what use is archery going to really be for me?" she asked. A short sword would make more sense, she thought. If someone was to attack her, she doubted they'd let her know until they were close enough to make a bow obsolete.

Link looked thoughtful at her question, his hand on his chin. He looked tired again. It had been a little less than a week since he returned, and he seemed to grow more tired by the day. They finally got him an actual bed for him to use downstairs rather than sleeping on the bundles of cloth and clothes, but apparently it didn't help as much as she thought.

The first night he returned, they fell asleep on the floor by accident, her head on his shoulder, both of them sopping wet. But he ended up waking her by accident, barely even dawn, with a fit she didn't know how to help other than to wake him up. He looked disoriented and ashamed, similar to the look she saw when he collapsed in the village, but he wasn't grasping at his chest like he did before. She had come to the conclusion that being reminded of his final days before the Slumber of Restoration made him mentally and physically remember the trauma, but the fit he had waking from his sleep was different even if she couldn't quite place her finger on it.

She asked him about it the day after, but he only told her they were bad dreams, nothing she could help with. He said he was alright, but he stood before her now looking like he could sleep for a week.

Finally, he signed, "We should work on your core strength." And then he assigned to her several exercises to do every day. When she pouted in response, she saw a faint smile that stayed there longer than she was used to with him these days, and she found it hard to keep pouting and smiled instead.

Her arms were sore for the rest of the day, making drawing out research plans and blueprints with Purah a little tiresome. Ora stood outside Purah's lab as usual, rarely making an appearance inside. The furthest it ever reached was Ora's face through a crack in the door, and even that seemed like too much. Purah and Symin didn't act hostile when Ora was mentioned or when she was seen through that door, but they didn't need to be explicit about it for Zelda to pick up on the fact that they didn't like the newcomer.

Link was elsewhere. Somewhere in Hateno, that was for sure, but he didn't tell her. From the way the villagers regarded the both of them cautiously as they walked through the village, either visiting the people or the businesses, she figured that he was attempting to smooth over the incident in which he left on his own. She had offered to help, but he once again turned down her help, saying it was something he needed to do on his own.

"Should I be worried about Link?" she asked Purah suddenly.

"Hm? Oh, probably."

"Purah!" Zelda exclaimed, finding the blunt answer more than a little concerning.

"What? You think that boy's alright? Well, relatively speaking, he's probably okay, but that boy snooped in my diary after he first found me! He used to be so desperate for any tiny bit of information. Used to bug me all the time for information on who he was, who I was, who iyou/i were, the whole deal. Don't know where that curiosity died, but I think that's concerning if not worrying," Purah said, adjusting her glasses but never looking up from her work.

"Do you think he remembers more than he's letting on?" Zelda pried, and then instantly felt ashamed of. She should be asking Link these questions, not Purah, but it wasn't as if he was being completely forthcoming to her, even if he seemed a little better these days.

"Unlikely. I think if that was the case, he'd act more like the Link from before, but he's still the Link from now, through and through."

Zelda sighed and leaned back in her chair, feeling like she there was nothing she could do. She wanted to help Link, but he refused the help. If things were different, if he was a little more open or didn't look so tired all the time, she might have been accepting of her fate to just wait. It was hard to do nothing.

Some time passed, the noon sun falling to the wayside to be the afternoon sun that peered in through the windows and caused Zelda to change spots so the light wasn't in her eyes. Moving a little closer to Purah, she saw blueprints laid out on her desk of repurposed Guardians.

"Purah, I thought I said-"

Purah snapped her fingers, an odd way of getting Zelda's attention but one that worked.

"I think I've found a way to remove the offensive capabilities of the Guardians without disrupting their core processing. We can use them in the effort of rebuilding Hyrule since many of the villages don't have many hands to spare. If you're still set on dismantling them, we can do so after they've outlived their purpose."

Zelda had to agree with Purah's logic even if she was still concerned about the people who would have to work with the modified Guardians. The problem wasn't just that the machines had a history of cutting down Hyrule's people in the last century and that they had the power to do so still, but that their appearance would be a factor in morale or willingness to work with them.

"We can try. One or two as a test trial. You'll be required to supervise them at all times while they're in use, and they should be shut down when they're not."

Purah smiled. "Works for me. But it'll cost you."

Zelda rolled her eyes at the now-young woman. She hadn't even set up an adequate tax system yet. Link had funds, she knew that, but they couldn't well rebuild all of Hyrule on Link's adventuring gains. Even if he had that much money, it wouldn't be right.

"You'll get all access rights to the two Guardians you'll be testing and monitoring. I'm assuming you're going to want Link to bring them in, which I know he'll do for free, so then you'll owe us in that regard. Once we have the system in place that pays for the workers, you'll be included in the same level of pay as them," Zelda concluded.

"Well, I'll also need operational funding to keep my lab running while Symin stays here," Purah pushed, eyeing Zelda carefully. She truly was as… detail oriented as she used to be.

"Symin is welcome to continue to be your assistant in the field and receive the same pay, but I assume that this lab stays clean and functioning not to your contribution but to his. Unless he's providing a service to rebuilding Hyrule, I need to limit expenses only to what is necessary," Zelda countered.

Purah pouted, and it took Zelda a moment to realize that Purah was not just responding to Zelda's counter argument but pouting as her own counter argument. When that didn't work, she huffed and said, "Fine! But only as long as Link provides me two functioning Guardians. Goddesses, you're just like your father. So stingy."

Zelda doubted that Purah meant it as a put down or a reminder of her failure to save her people, her father included, but she was even more surprised how the thought of her late father didn't sadden her. Before the Ganon's return, their relationship hadn't been the best as he pushed and pushed her to harness her powers, but he hadn't been a poor father or King. In fact, the comparison made her a little happy. She hadn't realized that Purah had dealt with her father on matters of payment for their work on the Guardians, and the fact he kept Purah's expenses in check despite her tendency to exaggerate actually made her smile.

They continued their work until Link returned at sunset to escort Zelda back home, and Ora followed at a distance. Whether it was to give them their privacy or to scout out the larger area for dangers, she didn't know.

"How was today?" he asked her as they traversed down the hill.

"The same. Purah tried to pry more money from the future coffers, but- oh! I, well, may have promised that you would provide her a service," she said, feeling her cheeks redden. In her negotiations, she had forgotten that it included promising Link's service without his knowing. "She wishes for two Guardians to experiment on."

He gave her a look that said, ireally?/i

"Yes. I apologize that I spoke on your behalf, but she's a tough negotiator and I may have been swept up in the process."

Link shrugged. "Should be easy. When I was… away, I saw some Guardians, and they didn't seem hostile."

Zelda thought on that. That was a good sign at least, but she couldn't help but wonder if they had been returned to the state they were in before Ganon's influence or if it meant most would be non-functional.

"Well, if that's the case, I will go with you."

Link stopped walking. It took Zelda a few steps before she realized he was no longer at her side and so she stopped and turned, looking up at him, the steep hill causing him to have the higher ground.

"I could probably do it faster on my own," he signed. "I can travel by Sheikah Slate and…"

Zelda couldn't resist the urge to smirk. "And what? What's your plan for moving the Guardians? You probably can't provoke them and lead them away if they aren't acting hostile."

Her reasoning started to dawn on Link's face before she even hit her key point.

"You remember how to control them," he signed, looking defeated. A moment passed and then he added, "I'll scout out possible Guardians and then we'll leave in the morning."

He disappeared in the strands of blue light with the use of the Sheikah Slate, and the moment he vanished completely, Ora was at her side once more. Link reappeared at the Shrine next to his house by the time they arrived on foot, and he approached them in such a swift stride, it looked like he had simply walked out a door, not rematerialized before their eyes.

Zelda still couldn't quite get used to the threads he broke into when he traveled in such a manner. It didn't seem to faze him, so it must not feel wholly unpleasant at the least, but he could also be used to it. She filed away the thought to ask him some other time.

"I remembered two used to stalk the area outside Kakariko village, and it seems they're still there," Link signed, looking pleased and, upon closer inspection, a little breathless with a few dots of sweat on his brow. He must have done his checks rather fast. "So the good news is that they're still there."

It didn't escape her that Ora seemed to stand just a little straighter at the mention of the remaining Sheikah village, but Zelda didn't need to ask the older woman to know what she was worried about.

"It'll be fine," Zelda said, looking to Ora. "I said I would speak on your behalf, and I intend to do so."

Ora nodded and then motioned Zelda back to Link, who still had his hands up and still, physically pausing his conversation.

"Oh, sorry." Zelda felt her face warm up, grateful for the cover of night to hide a blush if one appeared on her cheeks. "Please, continue."

"The bad news is that they seemed dormant. They didn't even light up when I approached."

"Well, that could be good news as well. At least we won't have to worry about their more… destructive capabilities," Zelda said. She raised her hand to her chin, trying to remember the time they first activated one of the Guardians. At first, it was a mechanical issue, but these Guardians are in well enough shape to have been fighting Link under Ganon's influence. That could mean they just lack orders or a guide, if she had to hazard a guess. "Link, do you have any spare parts of the Guardians in that bag of yours?"

He smiled and reached into his bag.

The ride to Kakariko village felt short, but the goodbyes to Hateno had felt they'd last a lifetime. People were asking them to promise to return soon, giving them food and other gifts for the road, and ended it all with a hearty send-off, including a wagon. Link had fetched some horses from a nearby stable to pull it. Not that Zelda disliked riding, but sitting in the wagon gave her a little more time to tinker with her contraption on the way. Ora sat up front with Link, though neither of them talked.

The closer they approached the Sheikah village, the more the silence weighed down on her, and Zelda found her thoughts consumed with worry and anxiety for both Ora's case and Zelda's own reunion with Impa that she ended up not being able to concentrate on her work. And the silence didn't end when they entered the village. It was as if even the birds knew to hold their breath.

The people still out and about watched them pass in silence, and Zelda could take a good guess as to why: Ora certainly looked Sheikah and, from what Link had told her last night in their planning for today, Kakariko village wasn't flushed with people. They probably already knew that the Sheikah stranger was Yiga, but none of them seemed to reach for any weapons, just watching in silence as they finally approached Impa's house.

Link helped her down from the wagon, holding out his hand for her to take and using the other at her elbow as she descended to guide her down. With her feet on the ground, she lingered in extricating herself from him for just a moment longer, looking at him for a sign of what he was feeling. But she didn't have to look hard to find his smile and realize he hadn't instantly pulled away from her once she was steady. She smiled back.

"I-" she began but was cut off by one of the guards at the steps of Impa's house and the suddenness of it caused her to pull back.

"Identify yourself," he said, his hand on the hilt of his sword, though still sheathed.

Ora stood tall on the bench of the wagon, looking down at the man. "I am Ora of the Yiga clan, and I am here at the mercy of the Princess to throw myself before the clan in judgement."

It was now that Zelda realized that Ora carried no weapons, but she knew that didn't limit the woman's prowess or potential to do damage. She looked back to the guard who had his hand on his weapon and then to the other guard who was still stationed at the steps. He looked not at the stranger but at Link. Link, who had turned to face him, seemed to give a small nod from what Zelda could tell, only being able to see the back of his head.

"Why do you return to us?" the second guard asked.

"I wish I could say it was a change of heart, something of my own volition, but it was the Princess's doing," Ora said, gesturing to Zelda. The first guard drew his sword halfway at the movement, probably just to show that sudden movements were not to be advised, Zelda guessed. "I attacked both her and Link while they were on the road when she used some kind of magic."

Zelda finally piped up. "Yes! The sealing power I used on Ganon and some Guardians. I haven't had another chance to test my theory, but I believe it was Ganon's influence that caused some Sheikah to turn. Perhaps not all of them, but I felt Ganon's presence in her when I used my power."

The first guard seemed to waver in his strong stance but picked it back up quickly.

"Princess Zelda. You have returned."

The voice was not either of the guards, nor Ora, and it most certainly was not Link. It was older, wispier, and still somehow familiar. Zelda looked away from the guards and Ora to the top of the steps they were guarding to find a small, older woman.

"Impa!" Zelda's response did not match the older woman's formal tone or the serious tone of the entire situation. Though she was older now, Zelda was so happy to see her friend. She raced up the stairs, neither guard moving as she passed them, and kneeled to wrap her arms around Impa. The woman didn't return the embrace, but she had always been more serious in all matters before. But she knew her old friend was pleased at her return, even if she didn't show it.

"It is good to see you again. I had hoped to see you sooner, but I see you have been… busy," Impa said to her. Then to the crowd, she said, "If Princess Zelda's claims are true, then we have hope for the future as well as a lot of work ahead of us. But until we are able to confirm the Princess's claims, this woman will be confined."

Zelda looked to Ora and saw her look more relaxed than she had before, though not by much. For as much as Zelda knew about the Sheikah, it was probably momentous that Ora hadn't been killed on sight. On top of that, the ability of the Sheikah and Yiga were enough that confinement was more of a show of cooperation on Ora's behalf.

"Come, Zelda. Let us talk," Impa said, taking small steps to return to her home.

Zelda spared a glance to Link. When she saw him looking at her, she signed a quick, "Come with?" to which he nodded and followed.

The home felt both small and spacious considering the lack of furniture and, well, people. Inside was only one young woman. She looked like a younger Impa in appearance but almost nothing like her in the way she held herself. While Impa, even in her younger years, had never been much of a talker, she always exerted a confidence that gave her an air of leadership, which obviously has not left her even after all this time. For the younger woman, she seemed timid, almost nervous, though likely no less deadly. Zelda herself never met many shy Sheikah, but there was always the possibility, she supposed.

With the help of the younger woman, Impa sat on a cushioned platform with her legs tucked under her. Once settled, she waved to Link and Zelda to come closer, and the younger woman left up the stairs, though Zelda doubted that gave them any real privacy. Zelda took a seat on the floor in the same position that Impa sat in, and from the corner of her eye, she spotted Link's surprise and then his scramble to copy her.

Impa smiled. "Worry not, Link. I wasn't going to bother you with customs while you had much more important tasks at hand." She looked between Zelda and Link expectantly. "Tell me everything."

Zelda settled in for the long story: what happened after she left Impa with her final message for Link, how she held back Ganon for a century, what she was able to see through Link once he awoke, and what they have done since. Though she gave Link a few opportunities to join in, he seemed reluctant to add anything so she didn't venture into topics such as his memory or his momentary disappearance in Hateno. Finally, she got down to business.

"I need to take the two Guardians near here back to Purah for… a partial disassembly," Zelda explained. "I was in favor of a more thorough disassembly, but Purah convinced me that they could be used to help rebuild. That being said, I wished for its destructive capabilities to be absolved if it's to work next to people that have only known then to be a force for evil the last hundred years.

"I started to make my own relay on our way here just in case, but you wouldn't happen to have kept yours, would you?" Zelda asked hopefully.

Impa shook her head. "Unfortunately, I did not have the foresight when I was younger to take mine with me from the castle before Calamity struck." When she saw Link reach for his Sheikah Slate, she held up a hand for him to stop. "It likely did not survive. It was a fragile construction, despite the parts we used."

Zelda was disappointed, but not entirely so. It had been a long shot to hope for a surviving relay. Not even Purah had hers, which had been unsurprising considering the woman's prior focus in the Shrine of Resurrection and Sheikah Slate. Robbie would have been the second best bet, but she was under the impression, from what Purah and Link told her of the man's current research, that it was based in more practical constructions of the ancient technology, such as arrows and armor. He probably didn't continue the work on the relays when it held no hope of fruition against Ganon's influence.

"If I was able to craft my own, would I have permission to walk the Guardians through the village? It would be the fastest route back to Purah."

After a long silence, Impa said, "You have my permission, but you'll need to prove you can control them before you bring them through."

Zelda nodded, happy at the answer. It wouldn't be until much later, holed up in the village inn with her mess of supplies around her that she realized that it might be a taller order than she originally thought. At one point, Link left and returned with old, familiar books and fragile notes, worn away by time and lack of care. After more fruitless hours of work, he came to her with fresh notes signed by Robbie, to which felt so impossible she began to laugh.

She felt Link's touch on her shoulder to get her attention as she laughed and laughed, her eyes cinched shut, though that did nothing to keep tears of laughter from spotting her eyes and cheeks. Once she was able to calm down enough to open her eyes, she caught the tail end of his sentence, asking her what was funny.

"We never figured out the Sheikah Slate before Ganon returned, and now you're just… you're just using it for running errands and notes!" Her stomach hurt from the laughing, but more painful was the guilty look she saw on Link's face. "No, it's alright. It just feels like this impossible thing. Before, we had to wait for a courier if we wanted information from someone halfway across Hyrule, and that could take idays/i. There were times that we went to those people or places simply because several letter correspondences would take too long.

"And now you're just hoping across the country. This is probably the most mundane use of a Sheikah Slate I can think of- not that that's a bad thing. It's just… everything feels so different this time around, and I can't stop comparing it to the past." She wiped the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hands and then felt the brush of Link's knuckle at her jaw, catching a tear she hadn't caught.

"You should rest," he told her. She couldn't take her eyes of the hand that touched her face as he used them to sign. "Come back to it with fresh eyes."

She nodded and began to clear her bed from her project materials with Link's help. In this communal inn, she slid into bed with the clothes she had worn that day. When she woke the next morning, as usual, Link had already left.

But he had left her a note saying: iBe back with blue flame soon./i


	9. Silent Princess (Link)

That night held a different dream and not a wholly unpleasant one. He was with his mom, himself young enough that he held her hand above his head as they walked down the steps of Kakariko village. When he woke, he realized just how much the Sheikah village had suffered since Ganon's return, how much it had shrunk, but his younger self in the dream thought the village was small and cramped compared to the wide roads and stacked buildings of Castle Town.

Despite the fact there were more people, the village didn't sound any louder, which made sense to Link now but as a child felt eerie as he was used to the loud sounds of wagons rumbling in the streets, parents yelling after their children, and the chatter of businesses and neighbors. Each step felt too loud and he tried to step a little lighter, careful of how and where he placed his foot all the while trying to keep up with his mom's longer steps. It didn't work but, hey, he tried.

She talked to some people he didn't recognize, not completely. He had seen Sheikah at the palace when his mom took him with her to work in the library with the other scholars, where he'd usually get bored and steal off to try and find his dad. But the people with the white hair and red eyes tended to capture his attention.

Link watched as his mom rolled out scrolls on the table and watching with minimal interest as she and the others talked to themselves. He could catch words like "blue flame" and "low power" over the cross talk, but even some of the words he could hear made no sense to him when strung together. Like he did in the Castle library, he left this too, though he was sure that the Sheikah noticed his oh so sneaky retreat. He wandered around just enough to look lost since an older kid grabbed him and asked if he was.

When he explained it to her that he was just bored, she smiled and led him by the hand to an empty house, minus some weapons on the wall.

"Have you held one of these before?" she said, offering him a light wooden sword. He nodded, his father having given him what could have been considered extremely basic lessons in sword play with an emphasis on the play. He swung the sword wildly and without restraint and found he was no match for the older girl.

He landed on his back in defeat several times but always got right back up to continue. His mom stayed in Kakariko village for a week, and he happily spent every day getting his butt handed to him.

Link woke in Kakariko village, in the hotel where Zelda slept in the bed next to his, not panicked like he had been waking from the memory-like dreams in Lurelin village, but he couldn't say he woke feeling refreshed either. Ollie was asleep on the job again, leaving him alone with the thin, fleeting memories of his mother and his apparent informal training with the Sheikah girl.

But what also stuck with him was the mention of the blue flame. Both Purah and Robbie needed the blue flame to operate their labs. Though Zelda didn't exactly have a lab here of a similar capacity, he wondered if at least having it on hand would help. He might not know how to build whatever it was she was making, but he could sure fetch a flame.

From the Sheikah Slate, he knew it was too early to wake her – just because he was sleeping less didn't mean she had to join him – but knew that a sudden disappearance might be in poor taste. He borrowed a paper and quill from the check in desk to leave a note behind for Zelda, writing, "Be back with blue flame soon" and setting it on his bed's pillow.

It took him several hours and several tries to get the flame back to Kakariko village intact. It was a further distance to travel without posts to hold the flame the further he got from the source. Going too fast on horseback snuffed out the flame and going too slow gave the flame enough time to burn his torch to a crisp.

He ended up having to take the horse and wagon, "borrow" the cooking pot outside his house, and fill it with enough wood to last the journey back. It ended up being a poor choice of words to leave behind in his note, saying "soon" instead of "later" or "much later" or maybe even "this evening" since wasn't until the sun started to set that he arrived back in Kakariko village, at which point he wasn't sure if he wanted Zelda to have completed her project or not as it would've made his entire day pointless if she ended up not needing it. Then again, he hadn't asked her if she wanted it.

He used the last leg of the journey to practice an excuse. He got too caught up in the challenge he gave himself, or that he just wanted to help. But by the time he reached the village with the fire still burning in the back of the wagon, he realized why he spent all day away from her: part of him was still afraid of remembering too much. He had consciously and purposefully decided to come back, to help her, but that didn't make him any less afraid.

Zelda wasn't in the inn but at Impa's home again. He found her, Impa, and Paya eating dinner together with a fourth hopeful placement. They didn't comment on his absence, Impa insisting he join them for dinner. He couldn't exactly argue with that, his stomach growling loudly at the mere mention of it, drawing a laugh from all three women.

He ate in relative silence, the others talking among themselves as he scarfed down the food. Zelda talked about her efforts in recreating the relay they used to use for controlling the Guardians a century ago, which felt like a cue if anything for Link. He set down his now empty bowl and signed a thank you to Paya, having recognized it as her cooking.

"I'm sorry it took so long, but I did bring the blue flame here," he signed after getting Zelda's attention. "Robbie and Purah both needed it before they could help me, so I thought it might help you."

Zelda gave him a soft smile that dropped his hopes to the pit of his stomach.

"The blue flame is a potent heat source to meld things together, but it's primary function is in providing energy to workshops and I haven't seen one in this village," Zelda explained. "Unless there's one I haven't seen?" she asked Impa and Paya.

"What was left of the workshop we used to have was split between Robbie and Purah when they left, I'm afraid," Impa said. She turned to Link and raised her hand slightly to get his attention. "But your work was not in vain. Even if it doesn't help the Princess now, we can use the flame to begin our own workshop. It will help us build in the future, especially if… if what Zelda said about the Yiga clan is true."

The mood immediately dampened. Paya looked nervous at the mere mention of the Yiga clan, and Zelda looked more distraught than anything else, which Link chalked up to her concern for Ora. For Impa, she seemed unfazed.

"Princess, I know your thoughts on the matter, but we have been under the impression that the Yiga clan broke away as more and more citizens of Hyrule feared us and our history with the ancient technology."

"That's why it's even more important that Purah and I can turn the Guardians into a force for good, to rebuild Hyrule without the fear of its combative abilities," Zelda broke in. "I remember the scrutiny the Sheikah faced before, but if there is even one small thing that could be good from the devastation in the last century is that we get to rebuild the way we wish to see Hyrule built."

"What is to stop them from following the same path of blame? After all, despite the peoples' concerns, we were the ones that built back up the army of Guardians that laid waste to the land. Princess, I know it's a hard reality to face, but we all need to accept the fact that our actions may have made Ganon's return more deadly than it would've been otherwise."

"I… I know that. That's why I want to fix it. Fix everything," Zelda said. Link could feel the heart she had behind the words, how she blamed herself. He already knew – or at least figured – she blamed herself for his near death, and while he felt the deaths of the empty towns and villages he passed through, like ghosts tugging at his shoulders to ask "Why you and not us?", he realized that while he could've fought more, fought longer to save more lives, it didn't change the fact that their own defense was turned against them.

"You can't fix everything, Zelda."

"I can try." Zelda sounded like she was pleading with Impa to give her permission rather than stating her goal or intent. He reached across the table to touch her hand, hoping he could help her somehow. She barely responded to his touch, her eyes flickering to him in a brief show of recognition – or thanks? – and then back to Impa, but she didn't say anything. Perhaps there was nothing left to be said.

"Thank you for the meal," Link signed to thank Paya once more. Then he stood and held out his hand to Zelda, waiting a moment and then two before she took his hand. He helped her stand, content with letting go after she was on his feet, but her lingering grasp made him reconsider. In an attempt to make it look not like what it seemed, he walked ahead of her, his arm stretched back like he was pulling her along behind him.

He led her out of the house, past the wagon with the blue flame still burning bright, and through the village, her hand still in his as he led her up and up, past the Shrine and taking a left at the fork. He stopped as soon as the Great Fairy Fountain was in view and turned back to Zelda, taking back his hand to talk.

"Let me show you something," he signed. She nodded silently, and he saw her watchful eyes trace his steps as he walked backwards into the grasses. His eyes searched the ground, looking past the Blue Nightshade and ignoring the glow of the Silent Shrooms until he finally found what he was looking for. He kneeled down, careful to pluck the flower at the base. Ever so carefully, he turned back towards Zelda and hid his finding behind his back.

"What do you have there?" Zelda asked as she walked closer to him.

He found himself briefly surprised that she didn't look surprised or otherwise enchanted by the flower fountain but figured that it was certainly not her first time to Kakariko village or its surrounding lands. As she drew closer, Link couldn't help but think back on one of the few memories he had that guided him in his travels, that begged him to find hints of her to know more about her, to remember her.

He showed her the Silent Princess, and she gasped, her hands at her mouth and her eyes wide at the sight of them. Since he needed his hands to say what he wanted next, he reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling it forward to place the stem of the flower in the palm of her hand.

"I can always find these here. There's even more up on the top of that rock," he signed, then pointed at the steep, cliff-like hill they passed on their way here. "I wanted you to know the Silent Princess thrives now."

Zelda dropped the other hand from her mouth and he saw her smile and the tears in her eyes. He watched as her eyes darted past him, the face she wore just then a familiar one to him; it was the way her eyes looked out like she could see every detail and found each part, each piece of what she was looking at to be utterly and completely fascinating. In a flash, a picture so fast in his mind he swore that he conjured it up from his own imagination, but in it he saw her looking at him that exact same way.

"I thought you needed good news. I know I haven't been the… easiest to be around. I don't remember much, but I remember you worrying for these flowers… Well, before you tried to make me eat that frog."

Her smile grew until laughter poured from her. "That was before I knew it wouldn't work on its own!"

"And I was sick from eating a live frog the rest of the day!" he added, hands speaking as his own laughs joined in the air with hers. They laughed like that for a moment, comfortable with each other until he realized two things: that was the first time he laughed in a while, and in front of Zelda no less, but also that he had unknowingly remembered something beyond what he saw in that brief memory. As his laughter stopped, so did hers, and he saw what was probably his own realization mirrored on her face, her smile still there.

"I can't believe I haven't heard your laugh until now!" she exclaimed. Then she quickly added, "Since we sealed Ganon away."

Against his better judgement, he asked, "What did I used to laugh at before?" He asked it even though he remembered that night in Lurelin village when she tried to paint him a picture of his old home. It made him feel sick to his stomach, hearing about something he knew he should remember and just didn't. In the absence of memories, the feelings her words did conjure hadn't been pleasant either, the idea of trying to remember a place called home that was now a pile of rubble.

"I tried to make you laugh with food jokes a few times. It ended up being mostly word play that you considered cheesy." She rubbed her forearm with her free hand nervously. "You were rather serious and focused back then, but I suppose we both were. I can't remember laughing all that much either."

Link tried to smile for her despite working through what she told him: if his forgotten self was hardly any happier than he was now, what was the good in remembering? Another part of him noticed how fondly she spoke of the time before, even as hard as it must have been. Perhaps the good in it outweighed the bad. Regardless, it seemed like spending time around her would bring them back, and he had already decided he wanted to stay by her side; there was little point in dwelling on the small points.

They ended up sitting beneath the trees for the last hours of the evening. As the night stole the sky, the luminescent flora came to life, shining through the darkness. Zelda hunted for more Silent Princesses, even picking a few Blue Nightshades. With some difficulty, she braided the flowers together into a circle and placed it on Link's head.

"Give me the Sheikah Slate," she told him, and he did. Holding it up at eye level for both of them, he heard the familiar click! of the camera.

He smiled and carefully removed the flower crown from his head, setting it on hers and holding out his hand for the Sheikah Slate. He found it cute how she handed it to him and immediately sat up straight and proper, her hands folded in her lap and chin held high, but he switched the Slate to face towards him, he scooted next to her and pulled her in closer to fit in the frame, holding it up and click! the second picture of the night was taken.

She looked flustered in this picture, nowhere near as composed as she had been a moment before. It almost reminded him of that picture they all took, the one where Daruk grabbed them at the last moment. Zelda laughed at her own mirrored image, the bells of the Nightshade bouncing as she softly laughed at the picture.

"It's perfect."

Link woke too early once again at the Kakariko Inn. The memory in his last dream was pleasant but hard to grasp. The most he remembered was having his head laying in his mother's lap, the only comfortable place to rest as the travel wagon bumped along the rocky dirt road. Even awake, he felt the lingering touch of his mother's hand on his head, brushing his hair with her fingers. It was the first time he wanted to have stayed in the memory longer, and not just because the lack of sleep was wearing on him.

He tried to sleep a little longer but found it to be a fruitless measure and decided to slip out of the inn once more. Outside, he caught the eye of Dorian, and the events of two days ago gave reason to the urgent look in his eyes. They stood in silence for a moment, Link not knowing what to say while also knowing what Dorian wanted to say though they couldn't openly discuss it.

Not here.

Dorian raised his arms over his head and stretched tall. "I could use a walk right about now. Link, would you accompany me?" he asked. Link nodded and followed him to the cliff side that overlooked the wetlands, under the tree by the graves.

"I don't know… I don't know if the Princess is right or not," Dorian told him. "I don't remember feeling any dark presence or influence when I was- you know." Link nodded. "I want to believe it. It would certainly take away some of the guilt I've felt all these years, but that feels cheap, to reduce it to it only being partially my fault."

This wasn't exactly Link's area of expertise. He wasn't a scholar or magic user like Zelda was. He had no way to confirm if Ora had the darkness in her that Zelda said she felt, but he trusted her enough to know she wouldn't say it if she didn't think it was true.

"Your will was strong enough to break free and leave," Link guessed. "Perhaps it was strong enough to resist Ganon's influence."

Dorian shuffled, knocking aside a few small rocks on the ground with his feet. "I wasn't strong enough to defy the Yiga that blackmailed me."

Link couldn't find the words to argue with that. "Have you heard of other Yiga leaving?"

"No," was all Dorian said.

"Then I think it's something to consider."

Dorian headed back to the village without Link. Link took a seat on the wooden fence and looked out over the wetlands until the dawning sun painted the waters orange and he heard Zelda's voice back in the village.


	10. Witness (Zelda)

It took the next two days and Link's willingness to go back to the castle to find any of her surviving research notes. While he didn't find much, he found just enough for her to complete the relay. It didn't look as she remembered earlier versions to be, but she chalked it up to the fact she was working with fewer tools, limited notes, and starting completely from scratch. In the future, she might have time to refine the mechanics and design, but it would do for now.

"It looks like a crown," Zelda caught Link signing. She smiled and angled her head up, trying to catch her reflection in the window. It did look a bit like a crown. A circlet, more accurately. Cobbled together from pieces of ancient tech, it looked more like an attempt at a crown than anything else. Turning back to Link, she found him leaning towards her, bent at the waist, and offering his hand out to her.

He didn't have to say it for her to get the joke. She took his hand and felt it grip hers and pull her up onto her feet from her bed-slash-makeshift-workspace.

"This might as well be my kingdom," she said, half-heartedly gesturing to the relay. "I put more work into my research than my people, before. Perhaps I should be called the Princess of Gears rather than Hyrule."

He shook his head. "You're doing this for your people. Don't forget that."

She left the thing upon her head as they left the inn together. Midday hardly felt any different than the other times of day, the way the Sheikah people behaved themselves. The biggest difference that Zelda found was the play of the children that ran about. She couldn't help but notice the differences in ages for the children to the older Sheikah. It could be completely explained by the small nature of the village and community, but with how Hyrule had been for the last century, Zelda couldn't help but wonder if there wasn't a darker reason for the age gap.

Some of the children, two young girls Link seemed familiar with, followed them at a distance as they left the village. While Link had come and gone a few times for various reasons, Zelda had limited her time to the inn and Impa's house. Sometimes she would go for a walk with Link for a bit of fresh air and moment to give her mind a break, but even that was simply around the village.

"There's a Guardian just up ahead, at the base of this cliff," Link told her, then looking over his shoulder to give a warning look, which she assumed was a message for the young girls.

Zelda took a few steps forward, going from grass to rock as she neared the edge to peer over. Yes, indeed there was a Guardian at the base – silent, just as Link told her. She took a seat at the edge of the cliff, crossing her legs and concentrating on one word: awaken.

It felt all too similar to before, begging for her powers to awaken at the Goddesses's springs. The long hours in the cold water, praying, unmoving, hopeless – they were not fond memories to look back on but she pushed them aside. She had to. She wasn't going to waste everyone's time looking back on her own sad past. Everyone had already paid too high a price for her past mistakes.

Again, she tried to conjure the power. Awaken. She tried to remember the feeling of controlling the Guardians but the memory proved to be too distant, so she turned her mind back to her research. The Divine Beasts were of similar construct to the Guardians in terms of craftsmanship and technology, but the Champions hadn't needed a relay. For the Champions to control their Divine Beasts, a certain connection had to be made. The Guardians were nowhere near as intelligent as the Divine Beasts, pawns on a game of chess where the Beasts were the Kings and Queens.

But perhaps a connection still needed to be made. Even a small one.

"I should go down," she told Link. It was more akin to giving him notice than asking for permission or protection. There was nothing to worry about, that she was sure of. It wasn't powered up. Not that it lacked power – the only thing missing from the construction was Ganon's influence and that hadn't powered them. When she banished Ganon's influence from the Guardians that attacked Link, she was sure it depowered them in one fell swoop.

She found the path to walk down, ignoring Link's moving hands as she stubbornly approached the Guardian. And then she stopped, a foot short and her hand a hair's breadth away from touching it. When was the last time she was this close to one? Back when her powers first awakened?

Zelda looked back to Link. He stood twenty or so feet away, his face unreadable as usual, but it was in his hands she saw his anxiety, how they were gripped tight and shaking. His eyes looked distant, like he couldn't see her even though she was standing right before him. She abandoned the Guardian, turning back to her guardian so that she stood before him, standing just as close to him as she had been with the construct. He still didn't seem to see her. Only when she took one of his hands into her own did he seem to return to her.

"Are you alright?" she asked, already knowing the answer even though he wouldn't give it to her. He must have fought a hundred of these things before he came to fight Ganon, and at least a few of those had been after he remembered the final memory she left for him. She couldn't begin to understand why this would make him act in such a way now. "Please, Link, let me help."

He shook his head. "I'm better now," he signed. "I think… it's weird seeing you so calm with them. Unafraid."

"I know you've spent your time fighting with them, but the Guardians and the Divine Beasts have mostly peaceful memories for me. Of course, not entirely, but you, uh, already remember that," she said. Then, she continued using her hands to speak, her motions still awkward and stilted at times, but she wanted to speak with him on the same level for this. "If it helps, there's no reason for them to turn against us. It's in their being to obey orders, and there should only be mine now. Just me."

"Just you," he repeated with a nod.

It was still so odd to see him in those moments, looking confused, panicked, and vulnerable, even if it was only evident to her. She watched him after he woke: confused but confident. Now he just looked scared, and that fact alone frightened her. If something was terrifying for him, he who jumped off mountaintops to score dragon scales, who careened down steep slopes with only a shield between him and the rock he tumbled down, and fought hordes of monsters like it was simply another day, then just how bad was it?

She gave him one last reassuring smile and a squeeze of her hand on his before returning to their task at hand. She pressed one hand against the cool metal of the Guardian and closed her eyes. Again, her thoughts tried to extend her will to the Guardian. Nothing came in return. How did she do it, back then? Of course, it had taken longer than a few days for her to complete the project then, but having it slip from her fingers when she was so close was near maddening. Part of her wanted to stomp her feet and storm off, but that wouldn't accomplish anything.

Maybe she was going at it wrong. She was treating this the same way she had with her powers when she wanted to call out to Link. While that had worked with her powers, she wasn't trying to use them here, she was trying to connect with a machine. Regular Sheikah were able to control the Guardians, both in ancient times and a hundred years ago. It had to be simpler.

With a deep breath, she took a step back and opened her eyes, partially surprised to see the evening light peeking over the hills in long rays. Had time passed that quickly? No, she had to focus. If anything, it meant she shouldn't waste any more time.

She thought to herself then, that the Guardian wasn't an ancient being to connect with or control. It wasn't one of the Beasts, it was a machine. She had to think of it as extension of herself, the same way she could use a tool or Link could use a sword. She tried to imagine its body as hers, waking up and moving one leg at a time to push up.

The creaks and moans of the resting cogs startled her from her meditative state, and the sudden movement of the Guardian itself – walking! – was a surprise great enough to send her backwards with a stumble. Link came to her side almost immediately, not nearly fast enough to catch her but fast enough that he was kneeling beside her to help her up before she even registered she hit the ground.

"It worked!" she exclaimed, half laughing. "Link, I did it!"

She threw her arms around him in celebration and was happy to feel her touch reciprocated not even a moment later. They pulled away just long enough to stand back up, her hands held in his. They stood face to face, too close for it to be innoucuous. But still neither of them moved, not until the cries of amazement from the Sheikah girls pulled them away, Link taking a hasty step back and a hand going up to brush through his hair.

"Koko! Cottla!" he signed, and she made note of the combination of signs he used to address them. She remembered them from before, having just seemed to slip her memory for a moment.

"Girls! Don't come too close," Zelda warned. She took off the relay, and while the Guardian remained still, it was stood active.

"You're really good at focusing," the older one said. Koko, Zelda presumed. "It was almost Sheikah level focus!"

Zelda smiled and knelt down to talk on level with the kids. "Thank you. Can you do the same?"

Koko shook her head. "Not yet! I'm trying, but I usually take care of Cottla. I'll probably be great once I start training!"

"I bet. But it really wasn't the safest thing to follow us. If something had gone wrong, you could've been hurt," Zelda warned. Koko looked a little disheartened, looking down at her feet and then to her younger sister. "Life isn't without its risks, and it's a skill to know what risks are worth the benefits. Why don't we head back to the village now?"

The girls nodded and scampered off ahead of Link and herself.

"What should we do about this?" Link asked, then pointing to the activated Guardian.

Zelda put the relay back on and tried to imagine herself as one with the machine again, slowly powering down like slipping away into sleep, and the machine turned itself off. It also dropped to the ground, causing a cloud of dust and dirt to fly up and coat the both of them.

Taking off the relay again, she said, "Well, at least it works."

Zelda took advantage of the relatively short walk back to talk about her theories and ideas, as well as explaining the differences in how the Guardians are apparently meant to be controlled compared to how the Divine Beasts needed a more personal connection. She talked on about how she had completely forgotten that the Guardians needed more personal supervision and that it was likely the reason why the Guardians seemed so independent and smart after Ganon returned was that the Calamity was not exactly a single rational mind that could only focus on one thing at a time, meaning it had the ability to control all the Guardians without the massive one-on-one oversight that they would have to handle now.

It felt like she was making up for a day of silent meditation, the way the words and thoughts and theories flew from her mouth at a breakneck pace, but her words grew stale and dry in her mouth as they turned the corner to see Kakariko village practically empty, aside from a few Sheikah crowded outside the open door of Impa's house.

"What's going on?" Zelda asked. Link shrugged, so they made their way to the back of the crowd, both of them standing on the tips of their toes to look over the shoulders of the people in front of them. Even though she couldn't see what was happening, she could hear it, and the voices alone made her push her way through the crowd to the front.

Impa was sitting in her spot as usual, but before her was Ora, sitting with her legs tucked under her and head bowed.

"Why didn't anyone tell me this was happening?" Zelda asked, looking between the crowd and Impa. Some were willful enough to look her in the eye as she passed over them, but others wouldn't rise to meet her gaze. She felt infuriated having been excluded – and seemingly purposefully so! She was the one who brought Ora here and promised to vouch on her behalf!

"Princess," Impa said, instantly gaining Zelda's undivided attention. "While we follow you as Sheikah with our sacred oath and support you as the last of the royal line to rule Hyrule, this is a village matter. You are not to involve yourself with unjust authority."

"But I am already involved!" Zelda exclaimed, her arms moving in time with her tempered fury. "And I promised Ora I would vouch on her behalf that I felt a remaining influence of Ganon on her."

"You have already told us this. Did you have anything else to add?" Impa asked.

"I…" Zelda wracked her brain, trying to think of something else to say. She could tell them her theories on Ganon's influence on the Yiga, but they were nothing more than untested theories. The anger coursing through her turned from a boil to a simmer, until she felt cold and ashamed. "I spent several nights with Ora watching over me… without Link. If she still ascribed to the Yiga beliefs, I'd be dead. Maybe - maybe it was to get here, but from what I know of the Yiga, killing either Link or myself would be their primary goal. Please, take these actions into consideration, too."

Impa nodded towards her. "We will. Until we reach a conclusion, please wait at the inn. You too, Link."

Zelda turned to see Link nod and turn to her, giving a sort of "let's go" nod. It felt wrong to leave Ora behind, but she knew that what Impa said wasn't technically wrong. She had already given her say, and she knew that her status didn't give her the permission to pardon people within their own communities. It was part of the reason why she brought Ora here. So she gave a bow to Impa and returned to the inn with Link, leaving Ora to the fate that Zelda brought her here to face.

It hardly felt like a week later with how the Dueling Peaks stable bustled with workers. Bolson had done a wonderful job of finding able workers while she and Link were in Kakariko village. Purah was around here somewhere, maybe out in the meadow to tinker with the inert and immobile Guardians even though she was supposed to be supervising the use of the ones she had disarmed. Link seemed content the last two days, busying himself as a cook for the workers. In fact, his cooking seemed to serve the dual purpose of entertainment as well, workers watching him pull out far too many ingredients than what seemed to fit in his bag and, of course, actually watching him make the meal.

As for herself the last two days with this project, Zelda took to managing things on the smaller level just to ensure things ran smoothly.

"Try imagining yourself in the middle of the Guardian," Zelda instructed, adjusting the placement of the relay on a young man. "It may take some getting used to, but you have to imagine as if you're walking in its body. Which leg needs to move first, and where, for it to walk forward?"

"Thanks," he managed, avoiding looking Zelda directly in the eye. "I'll give it another shot."

She took a step back, more to get out of a way than as a comment about her confidence in his ability, and watched the young man focus. The machine moved slowly and clumsily at first, but he seemed to get the hang of moving the machine by the fifth step. Leaving him with a short piece of praise, she returned back to the stable's cooking pit.

"Finished up the last round of dinner?" she asked, taking a seat by the fire.

"Almost," he signed, pulling a few ingredients from his bag. She watched relaxed as he prepped and cooked the smaller meal, meant for the two of them. Despite the hustle and bustle of the people around them working into the night, it felt much like before. Unlike before, she was too tired to talk about her theories of the Sheikah Slate or to confide in him her worries of being unable to access her powers. But she liked this better. Things seemed less dire even if it was more draining, trying to establish a new tax system and manage the reconstruction, starting with a few bridges and roads.

She looked out, beyond the fire Link cooked over. The stable didn't have enough beds or even enough space to house all of the workers, so some tents were set up nearby. Torches lit the dark road, trailing little dots into the distance. She listened to the gurgling clunk of one of the Guardians, probably laying down foundation for one of the supporting pillars of the long bridge.

Zelda felt a tap at her shoulder and turned, blinking her eyes a few times just to make sure her vision was clear as she watched Link sign.

"Wait," she signed back. "I didn't catch that."

"I'm almost out of food to feed others with," he said, tapping his bag.

"Oh." Already, her mind began racing with solutions. With managing everything else, she had almost forgotten about setting up a steady supply of rations.

"Perhaps I can help," someone said. It was hard to see them, having looked from the fire to the dark so fast, but she recognized the voice. "Sorry, I was eavesdropping."

Looking back to Link, she saw him smile and sign, "It's alright, Ora."

The other woman took a seat next to Zelda, giving her an almost apologetic look. She didn't look exactly relaxed, but she did look different. Her hair was let loose and she wore the same kind of clothes like everyone else here wore. The only thing that set her apart from Hylians that worked here was the color of her hair.

It wasn't the first time Zelda had seen Ora in the last week, but her appearances had been far and few between, seeing her helping the workers or taking guard shifts in the night. She seemed glad for the work, and Zelda guessed it was probably since it took her mind off the fact the Sheikah were unable to come to a decision on what to do with her, leaving the trial somewhat suspended. She wondered how it would feel, not to know her fate.

"I was wondering if I could help manage this group," Ora asked her. "I've heard of a few people talking about settling out here. Building a few houses, establishing some farms. I've overheard the stable even mention expanding into a complete inn."

"So eavesdropping is just your default?" Zelda teased, sitting up a little straighter in order to elbow the older woman. Ora gave her the same kind of smile as before.

"I want a place to call home and a purpose for each day. Why not here? I can protect the people here, if anything happens, and I can manage the day to day tasks and-"

"Ora, you have my support. I think you'll be great for the day to day issues, but I don't think that solves my… supply chain problem. This group would also need another person, to manage the bigger issues. Does that work for you?" Zelda offered.

Ora nodded, a spark in her eye for the first time in a week since the trial. In the time it took to finalize the details, responsibilities, and future plans with the woman, Link had finished their dinner, passing a plate over to Zelda and taking a seat on the other side of her.

"Wait until I tell the others before doing anything," Zelda told Ora as the older woman left for her shift.

"Who are you thinking about putting in charge of this group?" Link asked.

"Bolson, most likely," she said. "He's managed his own company up until now. Granted, on a much smaller scale, but I doubt anyone has been working in these kinds of numbers for a while."

He nodded in agreement.

"That is, if he'll accept. I recall him mentioning a retirement at some point, but I can't remember what context it was in. I'm positive he'll remind me of it when I approach him," she said, and then began on her own meal.

Link settled in next to her, eating his own meal. It was a warm, hearty stew that filled Zelda pretty fast and she passed her leftovers on to him, which he seemed to take without question. In the light of the fire, the bags under his eyes seemed accentuated. She opened her mouth, wanting to ask him what was troubling him, but she closed it, knowing the non-answer she'd get.

Instead, she looked back out to the bridge in progress. They left the older wooden bridge up, making the new stone one right next to it so they wouldn't keep travelers from being able to, well, travel. In fact, she was hoping they'd pass by and see the progress and spread the news to any smaller settlements, letting people know that she was back and working at building a better future for everyone.

"We should visit the other groups," she blurted out. "The Geurdo, the Rito, the Zora, and the Gorgons. I know no one thrived during the century we were absent from, but if we could get their support - more workers, more funds or supplies - we could really start to rebuild."

She turned to Link and promptly laughed, his face stuffed with stew as he raised his hands to talk.

"The Zora are close," he signed, still making his way through that mouthful of stew. "We could start there."

Zelda nodded, her mind already spinning with the possibilities. Zora could travel faster by water. Certain supplies that could travel through water could be delivered quick, as well as messages. But what really interested her was her usual focus: the ancient Sheikah technology in the Divine Beasts. Part of that felt shameful to admit, that she was more interested in her studies than helping her people. She couldn't stop her father's words from echoing in her head and the doubt creeped in, wondering if she'd fail her people again if she focused too much on her research. Another part of her knew that it wasn't her studies that kept her from serving her duty to her people before, but that wouldn't quiet the doubt in her head.

"Yes, let's do that."


	11. The Contender (Link)

Link came to a stop on Meadow the moment that Vah Ruta came into view on the path they traveled to Zora's Domain. The Beast stood on the top of the pointed cliff, still facing Hyrule Castle. He had to crane his neck up from where he was to get a good look at it, the cliffs and trees surrounding the winding route to Zora territory placing him at a disadvantage.

He wondered, would there be new Champions to move the Beasts eventually? They served for a singular purpose, a Divine one, but now they were little more than statues. Maybe they would sit unused and eventually be forgotten just like last time. He thought to the Master Sword still strapped to his back and wondered if that too would be a relic forgotten until it was needed.

He imagined standing on a balcony from the castle years later and looking out to see the Divine Beasts, still poised and ready to help him defeat Ganon, a testament to the struggle they all faced. A relic of the past.

A whinny from Royal, the white horse he found and tamed that looked nearly identical to Zelda's mount from before, got his attention and he looked to see Zelda coming to a halt by his side. He thought it was important to introduce the two of them at long last, now more than ever. Meeting with the other races, not as an individual but as a member of royalty, putting her best foot forward was important.

"I forget how tiring long rides can be," Zelda sighed. "Thanks for stopping… oh." He watched as her line of sight moved up to the Divine Beast. "Huh."

He looked at her puzzled, though it didn't affect much as she wasn't looking at him. He waved his hand for her attention so he could ask, "What are you thinking?"

"Well, Vah Ruta generates water, correct?" She asked it as a question, but he knew that she knew the answer. "What if we could find a new…"

A new Champion. Even though he had just been thinking about the same thing, he understood her hesitance. Even though the Champions they once knew had been gone for a long time, it still probably felt fresh to her. Him too, if he was being honest. He only recalled them in a few memories, but the ones he remembered, they were good. Not to mention the fact that they helped him take down Ganon in the end anyways, temporarily gifting him their powers as well as piloting the Beasts from beyond.

"It's okay," he signed, trying his best to be comforting. "We don't have to talk about that now."

She looked thankful and gave him a nod, and they rode the rest of the way to Zora's Domain in relative silence, Vah Ruta's shadow following them as a reminder it was still there.

"It's almost as I remember it," she murmured as they reached the first bridge, the one high up that functioned as a near scenic view of the Zora's home. Link felt the now familiar pang of jealousy when he heard her talk about the past, wishing he could remember it the same as she could.

"It looks like they downsized the Hylian friendly space," Zelda continued. Then she turned to look at Link. "But that makes sense. Hopefully, they still have a few beds- not that I mind camping out. I'm starting to enjoy it, actually."

She wasn't being entirely honest, but he knew she was just trying to put on a good face about the whole thing.

Sidon must have seen them coming or been making his usual princely rounds because he met them at the start of the last bridge. He practically ran to them, arms outstretched, nearly as tall as his horse, as-

"Link, my friend!" Sidon greeted him, which included wrapping his arms around Link and pulling him off the saddle of his horse. He yelped in the commotion, the sound louder and higher pitched than he would've liked. His legs dangled in the air, not able to meet the ground with how high Sidon was still holding him.

Behind him, he heard Zelda giggle. "Prince Sidon, you've grown," she said through her giggles, which only continued to grow as Sidon moved from a hug to simply holding Link with outstretched arms, his hands hooked under Link's arms. Link watched as Sidon's face turned from glee to confusion at Zelda's giggles turned to laughs.

"You're- you're holding him like- like," she tried to say, her own laughter interrupting her," like he's a grumpy puppy."

Sidon returned to looking at Link with an inspecting eye, and an even bigger smile grew over his face. "You're right!"

Whatever look on Link's face that made them so entertained must have deepened as both of them matched in their laughter as if on cue. Link raised his arms and wiggled out of the grasp of the royal red Zora, landing firmly on his feet.

"How have you been, my friend?" Sidon asked. "And who's your delightful companion?"

Link signed his answer – that he was doing well – to Sidon's visible slight surprise. The tips of Link's ears turned red, knowing Zelda must have picked up on it. He talked verbally with Sidon. It started when Sidon helped him with Vah Ruta, but the man was a very friendly and understanding force of positivity. It was hard not to feel at ease around him. Not that Zelda made him uneasy, just- ah, it didn't matter.

"And this is Princess Zelda," he signed at last. Sidon looked mildly surprised, like he could believe it but just couldn't believe that it was happening now. "We've come to talk to the King."

"Zelda? The Zelda? As in the Princess that saved Link's life?" Sidon asked in rapid response. Then he took Zelda's hand and shook it furiously. It was Link's turn to laugh, the over enthusiastic handshake shaking her entire arm, all the way up to her shoulder. "Ah! Bless you, your quick thinking then helped save us now! Link has been a tremendous help to us in these trying times."

The look on Sidon's face dropped, just slightly. The handshake came to an end, but he still held on to her hand. "But… ah, I must warn you."

"Of what?" Zelda asked, trying to carefully and respectfully pull her hand back. It didn't seem to work, not the way she was going about it, and she looked resigned to sit on Royal with her hand being held in a stale handshake.

"There is a Hylian woman here who has been… well, acting in place of a perceived absent leadership. I tried reasoning with her and my father that since Link has returned to us the same as he was a century ago, then the same could be said of the last Hylian princess." He finally let go of her hand, his head shaking slightly. Disappointed, Link guessed, at himself. "We waited on word of you after the defeat of Ganon but Ayruna, the Hylian woman, pushed for action."

Link waved his hand to get Sidon's attention and then asked, "What does that mean?"

"It means that two weeks ago, the Zora court has recognized Ayruna as the acting leader of Hyrule."

They all let that statement sink in. Link wasn't an expert on Hylian politics, and from what he remembered of being a royal knight and the Princess's personal guard, it wasn't something that he needed to know to begin with. Go there, protect that, take watch. The only difference might be in the where and who. But he couldn't imagine what Sidon said being a good thing.

Zelda pushed on ahead without another word, leaving Link and Sidon behind. They both watched her go, watched as the posted guards talked with her, watched their reactions and how one ran ahead to announce her arrival. Then Sidon turned to Link.

"I know I've already asked you this, but how are you doing?"

Link cleared his throat, but even then his first few words to Sidon came out weak and dry. "I haven't been sleeping well. Being around her… it's bringing a lot back."

"Is that a good or bad thing?"

Link shrugged. "It comes back in pieces- hard to put together. Like when you see someone you know and remember something involving them, but you don't go through your entire history with them. Which…"

"Which is easy when you already remember your history with them," Sidon finished for him. "I wish I could help you. If its sleep that's troubling you, we have people trained in healing and potion making."

Link nodded as an answer. He wasn't sure he wanted to take something to help him sleep if it meant being unable to escape an unpleasant memory in his dreams, but maybe at least one full night of sleep would do him some good.

They headed in, Link leading Meadow by the reigns rather than mounting back up again for the short distance. Zelda had apparently left Royal with the one remaining guard at the gate, so he led the both of them to the first pool of water, the statue of Mipha watching over them as the horses took a drink.

Link missed her. He felt that way every time he looked at that statue. The memories of her he had, she was a good person, a good friend. Now he knew that he apparently meant much more to her, the Zora armor in his bag a reminder as much. He didn't remember feeling the same way, but that didn't keep him from missing her, from knowing who she was and what she had done to help him, even after her death.

He no longer felt her healing presence, not since the final battle. While that meant he had to be a little more careful in how he fought, it was becoming more evident that the post-Ganon state of Hyrule needed less fighters and more leaders, more workers to rebuild. Still, he had a place, an important one, at Zelda's side. He took some comfort in that.

After the horses finished drinking, he took them out the northwestern gate and tied their reigns to the nearest tree before heading back. He found Zelda upstairs in an audience with King Dorephan, already some ways through their conversation, if you could call it that.

"I mean not to insult your decision, but my priorities in aiding Hyrule did not start in diplomatic formalities. There is no precedent for this kind of situation, and I started by visiting the small pockets of my surviving people. I have gained the support of two major communities and already begun reconstruction efforts in Hateno region. I beg of you to retract your acknowledgment," Zelda said. Link, for one of the first times in his memory, found he couldn't read her expression. She wore her feelings on her sleeve, but whether she was feeling sad or mad or betrayed, he couldn't tell. Maybe all three.

"Young Princess, I maintain that my decision was done using the knowledge we had at the time. The Lady Ayruna was asking for the kind of help we provided to your kingdom's nobility and appointed officials. As you said, we have little in our recorded history for situations like these and how to proceed." The king of the Zora paused, tapping at his chin. "Perhaps you should talk with Lady Ayruna and ask her to relinquish her claim. She does not come at this alone or without a plan. She has people she has been working with to rebuild Hyrule, same as you."

At this point, Link could tell Zelda was just barely keeping her anger in check, her fists clenched, her brows drawn, the way she stood not on the balls of her feet but on her toes, like she was ready to move at a moment's notice.

"If I was dead or unable to perform my duties, this might be considered legal, but I have not died and I am still the crown princess. With my father-" she choked up a bit, but carried on without missing a step, "- with my father dead, that makes me the acting reagent."

Link was off to the side still, just barely on the top of the stairs that led up to the throne room, so he was able to spot the Hylian woman that climbed the opposing set of stairs: dark brown hair, nearly black that was pulled up in a loose bun, strands of hair poking out this way and that like she had been working just a moment ago. She looked about a few years older than Zelda and himself – early twenties if he had to guess. She had sharp brown eyes and sun tanned skin spotted with endless freckles.

She looked familiar, but he couldn't place where. As she took the last step to reach the platform, she locked eyes with him and smiled, the turn of her lips not forced, not a pleasantry. But she didn't linger on him for long, turning into the chamber with a remark already ready on her tongue.

"Princess, if I may," she said, greeting Zelda with a bow, one hand tucked towards her stomach while the other was outstretched, leaning forward as her right foot slid behind the other. "By your own words, 'if you are unable to perform your duty' sounds like it may apply to the century you were battling with the calamity to keep it contained. Even in times of war, duties are relegated if the acting reagent is on the front lines with their generals and knights." The woman shot Link a look, as if she was trying to pull some meaning from his presence.

Zelda saw him then, following the woman's line of sight to him. He wasn't sure what he should be doing, if she wanted him by her side during this, but he did see in Zelda's eyes the look of desperation she gave to him. She needed help but he didn't know how to give it to her.

"You've just come out of a stressful ordeal. I know the people, I know the land, and I know how to help them. I appreciate the work you've put into rebuilding Hyrule thus far, but I already have several systems in place for rebuilding Hyrule. You could let me take the reins for a while you acclimate to life now. I'm sure a century away from your people has left you… out of touch with some of our modern troubles."

Zelda's face started to turn red.

"Oh, I apologize. I don't believe I've properly introduced myself. I am Ayruna of the Wastelands, your highness. It's an honor to meet you- and thank you. Without you-" A pause, then a gesture from Zelda to Link. "Without the both of you, rebuilding would be impossible."

Then, as though an idea just occurred to her, she turned back to Link and said, "Actually, we could still use your service. I've heard stories of your prowess, and we still have many monsters stalking the roads."

Ayruna continued talking, even as Zelda stormed off without another word. She brushed past Link, her shoulder hitting his as she descended the stairs. Not sure what to do – everyone staring at him, from the King to Ayruna, even his guards – Link followed right behind her.

Zelda walked with purpose, which made sense since she actually remembered this place, and headed straight to the Seabed Inn. With Link shadowing her just a few steps behind, he watched as the familiarity washed over Kodah and Kayden at the sight of her, similar though not the same to how they reacted to seeing him again.

"Princess Zelda!" Kodah exclaimed, her eyes flickering to Link in recognition but keeping her focus on Zelda. "My, you haven't changed one bit. Hopefully, you still remember us?"

Link stepped up beside Zelda, knowing where her head was at and that it wasn't probably the best headspace to be in for a friendly reunion. "Two beds?" he asked, already pulling the rupees from his bag as payment.

Kodah shook her head. "No charge, not for you two." Kayden seemed a little apprehensive about that so instead Link suggested a discount, which pleased them both.

"Do you want a room with two beds or two rooms?" Kodah asked him, but Link left the answer up to Zelda, giving her arm a little nudge with his elbow.

"One room. Please," she said. The bright color from her face was already starting to fade, though the cross look she wore had stayed relatively the same.

Kayden nodded and led them through the back door, descending down a spiral staircase until he reached a room about four doors down. "Master Link. Princess Zelda," he said, opening the door but not stepping inside. He gave them both a professional, not formal, bow and slipped Link two keys to the room as they entered. "Let us know if you need anything during your stay."

Link signed his thanks and closed the door behind him, watching as Zelda walked towards the bed on the left side but didn't sit or lay down. Instead, she began pacing in front of it. He took a seat on the opposing bed, bouncing up and down from the motion of the water filled bed. It was several minutes of pacing before Zelda said anything, and when she did speak, her tone hadn't changed from what it had been upstairs.

"You remember my father, don't you?" she asked. He nodded, though it didn't seem like she actually needed the confirmation as she didn't look to see his answer. "He made me perfectly aware of the consequences of if I should fail, telling me the court's gossip as if I didn't already know."

"A princess without a kingdom, if she fails. We're all doomed," Zelda mimicked the century's old gossip in a high pitched voice. "And- and, I didfail. I know Hyrule is still here, Ganon didn't win but… goddesses, I know they're dead but I can just picture the courtier's last thoughts being of vindication. We knew it," she mimicked again.

"In the sense of the kingdom falling to ruin, I failed. They were right. I was the wrench in our plans – the wrong person for the role. You…" She stopped in her pacing and looked softly at Link. "You were perfect. You did everything right even as I did everything absolutely wrong. And because of me, you nearly died."

This time, she fell silent and stayed that way, looking down at her feet. Did she consider everything happening now a punishment? In terms of causality, he supposed that yeah, his lost memories, the state of Hyrule, it was this way because of her actions but also of his and the Champions and Ganon's hijacking of the Guardians. Maybe there was no good outcome to the fight, just less bad ones.

He wanted to say that, to tell her they just had to deal with the now and not worry about the past, but something stopped him. A memory flashed in his eyes, clouding his vision, sweeping him away: the sight of the Guardians staggering outside of the Castle, Ganon's shapeless form swarming about the castle, Castletown falling apart and on fire. Bodies laid in the street as they ran through the streets, trying to reach the castle for their first attempt at taking down Ganon.

"We have to try," Zelda begs. They're tucked between two buildings: a baker's shop and a general goods store. "Perhaps my powers will come when we need them most."

He wants to believe her. He wants to stop this disaster from going any further than it already has. The people in the Castle, he wonders if they're alright. His thoughts turn to his parents, his mother in the library most likely and his father… Then he tries not to think about it.

He nods. "We will."

The memory became less lucid after that, turning to flashes of still pictures with a ghost of a sound, almost like he was quickly skipping through the pictures on the Sheikah Slate. The muck of Calamity Ganon, shooting the yellow eyes with an arrow to clear the paths. The sanctum, the King's body motionless on the throne, the barely formed body of Ganon – nothing like what he fought just weeks ago, less shapely. He remembers it being hard to hit. An image of Zelda, covered in the dirt spray from when Guardians unknowingly passed them, their claws kicking up dust and dirt, with her hand outstretched, saying something, trying to seal him away.

And nothing.

He remembers the cackle from Ganon, the visions it showed them in that moment to tease them of their defeat. It showed them the Divine Beasts wreaking havoc, the forms of itself controlling the machines in place of their friends. He remembers Zelda's scream. He remembers dragging her out of there, the cackling echoing down the halls in their escape.

Link blinked and found himself returned back to the moment, Zelda on her knees in front of him, holding his hands within hers. The soft look from before stayed, tinted with worry and stained with tears. When he locked eyes with her, she leapt up and from the ground and threw her arms around him and knocking him on his back on the water bed with her partially laying on him, stifled sobs next to his ear.

"You were gone for so long," she choked out. Her arms held him even tighter, and he tried to comfort her by holding onto her too, only to find the comfort was his own and he held on even tighter. She felt like an anchor, her touch and warmth holding him to the present. Link nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck and kept his eyes open, afraid he'd be lost in the new memories again.

"I'm sorry," Zelda said. "I'm so sorry, Link. I- I shouldn't linger on the past so much, I know. I'll do better. I promise. I'll do better for you."

He wasn't completely sure of what she meant. How long was he stuck in those memories? It hadn't felt so long, but it had been enough to worry her this much. He couldn't reassure her with words, not as they held each other, so he gave her a brief squeeze, a reassuring stroke of the back. He was alright, he tried to let her know.

Link knew he could've let her go and told her as much, but he wanted to hold on to her. Just for a little while longer.


End file.
